China's services activity expanded at a slower pace in January, with the Lunar New Year holidays worsening employment, but business sentiment improved, a private sector survey showed on Wednesday. The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers' index (PMI),

China's manufacturing sector expanded slightly at the start of 2025. Manufacturing production rose at a quicker pace amid higher new business inflows. As a result, purchasing activity and inventory levels both increased.

China's factory activity grew at a slower pace in January, while staffing levels fell at the quickest pace in nearly five years as trade uncertainties increased, a private-sector business survey showed on Monday.

Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics, said: "The Caixin manufacturing PMI released today adds to evidence that China's economy lost some momentum in January. The breakdown suggests that exporters were downbeat even ahead of Trump's latest tariff announcement.

The softer services print was driven chiefly by slower growth in new business, as activity cooled from highs seen during the year-end holidays. While the recent Lunar New Year holiday is expected to have spurred some growth, this will only be reflected in February’s reading.

China's manufacturing activity slowed in January, according to the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a key sector indicator released on Monday by the private digital newspaper Caixin. The index, compiled by the British economic information company IHS Markit and widely used by international investors to assess China's manufacturing sector,