Economists at Standard Chartered provide a grim outlook of China’s economy amid weak business activity in December.

Key quotes

“Official manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs fell to their lowest levels since February 2020.”

“Supply-chain disruptions and worker absenteeism likely dragged production, trade activity significantly.”

“Decline in real estate investment may have stabilised; medical-related demand likely jumped.”

“We lower our Q4-2022 and 2022 growth forecasts to 2.0% y/y (2.9% prev.) and 2.7% (3%), respectively.”