【英语财经】1月MNI企业信心指数略有下滑 Chinese businesses upbeat despite January blues

Chinese business sentiment slipped slightly at the start of the year but companies are still feeling relatively optimistic about the coming months, a closely watched survey indicates.

The MNI China Business Indicator fell to 52.3 in January, from 52.7 in December – although the reading was still above the 50 threshold needed to indicate optimism.

Moreover some of the components of the survey, which questions 200 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, showed distinct improvements at the beginning of 2016 despite plunging stock prices and lacklustre economic growth.

Production and new orders both picked up in January, the survey said, and companies were “relatively more upbeat about the coming quarter with both expectations indicators expanding at a faster rate” – citing both the weaker yuan and interest rates as factors.

Philip Uglow, chief economist of MNI Indicators, added:

Volatility in financial markets has once again centred attention on China with a renewed lack of confidence in the ability of Chinese policymakers to contain some of the growing risks including capital outflows.

While there are heightened risks, overall sentiment among businesses remained relatively resilient in January, with output and orders measures actually ticking higher.

一项受到密切关注的调查显示，今年初中国企业信心略有下滑，但它们仍对未来几个月感到相对乐观。

1月份，MNI中国企业信心指数(MNI China Business Indicator)从去年12月的52.7降至52.3，不过该读数仍高于50这一阈值，表明企业仍持乐观情绪。

另外，今年初尽管股价下跌且经济增长黯淡，但该调查中的一些分项指数仍出现明显改善。该调查对在沪深股市上市的200家公司进行了问卷调查。

该调查显示，1月份产量和新订单指数双双上升，企业“对于未来一个季度的态度相对乐观，两个预期指数的升速都有所加快”，原因是人民币贬值和利率下滑。

MNI指数(MNI Indicators)首席经济学家菲利普?厄格洛(Philip Uglow)补充称：“金融市场的波动使人们的目光再次聚焦在中国身上，人们又开始质疑中国政策制定者是否有能力控制资本外流等日益增强的风险。

“尽管风险加大，但企业整体信心仍相对坚挺，产量和订单指数实际上都在走高。”

译者/梁艳裳