MILAN, Jan 3 (Class Editori) — In December, for the fifth consecutive month, China’s Manufacturing PMI compiled by Caixin, thus unofficial but considered highly reliable, contracted below 50 points, suffering from the waves of Covid-19 outbreaks that followed Beijing’s abrupt reversal of its zero-Covid-19 policy strategy.
The index fell to 49 points from 49.4 in November, according to data published by Caixin Media Company Ltd. and S&P Global. The sub-indices for production and total new orders also stood below 50 points for the fourth and fifth consecutive month, respectively, as Wang Zhe, Senior Economist at Caixin Insight Group, pointed out.
The new export orders indicator also contracted for the fifth consecutive month, indicating that global demand for Chinese goods continues to decline.
Employment shrank for the ninth consecutive month, the worst performance since February 2020, when the pandemic first hit China, reflecting slow hiring due to weak demand.
“Overall, the pandemic continued to weight on the economy in December. Supply contracted, total demand remained weak, foreign demand shrank, employment deteriorated, logistics were sluggish, manufacturers faced increasing pressure on their profitability, and the number of sales and stock remained low,” Wang pointed out, ringing up a series of negative data but saying he is convinced that the climate in China has improved significantly due to the easing of Covid-19’s containment measures.
The official Manufacturing PMI also fell in December more than expected, compared as well to the figure foreseen by Caixin. The figure stood at 47 points, the lowest level since February 2020.
Some positive notes come, however, from the electric car market, which now accounts for a quarter of total sales. Some Chinese manufacturers have recorded record sales, thanks as well to incentives granted by the Government, which however expired at the end of December.
Li Auto, a very competitively priced cars producer, hit a new record in December monthly deliveries, closing 2022 with a 47% increase for the entire year and becoming China’s top-performing emerging carmaker with more than 20,000 monthly deliveries.
NIO delivered 122,486 vehicles during 2022, a year-on-year increase of about 34%, while XPENG’s deliveries saw a 23% increase over 2021.
BYD, then, recorded a 150% increase in sales in December, despite production being halted following the lifting of Covid-19-related measures in the last two weeks of the month. Looking ahead, CITI Analyst Jeff Chung predicts that electric vehicle sales in China could grow another 33% in 2023.
Tesla also performed well, delivering about 1.31 million cars in 2022, 40% more than in 2021, a very good result although slightly below the target of selling more than 1.4 million vehicles.
(Source:Class Editori)
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