【英语财经】2月份中国企业产量降至两年低点 Chinese production hits two-year low

Chinese business sentiment declined again in February, setting a downbeat tone for 2016 as production fell to its lowest level in two years.

The MNI China Business Indicator fell to 49.9 in February from 52.3 in January – below the 50 threshold needed to indicate optimists outnumber pessimists.

The survey, which questions 200 companies listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, said production fell to the extent that it wiped out a small gain made last month, and was at the lowest level since February 2014. New orders were at their lowest since August 2012.

Surprisingly there are still some glass-half-full types making their voices heard: the ‘future expectations’ component of the survey rose 1 per cent to 53.1. It relates to expectations over the coming three months.

Philip Uglow, chief economist of MNI Indicators, added:

The absence of the usual monthly indicators of economic activity make judging the trajectory of the Chinese economy difficult over the Lunar New Year holiday.

From a business sentiment standpoint the theme is more of the same; conditions remain subdued as companies weigh a more supportive policy environment with market volatility. The significant fall in activity measures suggests that we’re unlikely to see a jump in economic activity over the festive period.

2月份中国企业信心继续下降，产量降至两年来最低水平，为2016年定下了一个悲观的基调。

2月份，MNI中国企业信心指数(MNI China Business Indicator)从1月份的52.3降至49.9，低于50这一阈值，50及以上表明企业情绪乐观。

该指数调查了在沪深股市上市的200家企业，表示2月份产量下滑幅度抵消了上一个月的小幅增长，且降至2014年2月以来最低水平。新订单处于2012年8月以来最低水平。

令人惊讶的是仍有某些分项指标表现出乐观态度，该调查中“未来展望”的部分上升1%至53.1，它涉及对未来3个月的预期。

MNI指数(MNI Indicators)首席经济学家菲利普?厄格洛(Philip Uglow)表示：由于缺乏经济活动的一般月度指标，因此很难对春节期间中国经济的轨迹作出判断。

从企业信心角度来看基调大致相同：企业在考虑，更具支持性的政策环境与市场的波动，哪个会给自己带来更大的影响，因此活动情况依然低迷。产量的显著下降表明，春节期间的经济活动不太可能出现猛增。

译者/何黎