On March 31, 2022, the service industry survey center of the National Bureau of statistics and the China Federation of logistics and procurement released the China purchasing manager index (PMI) for March. The manufacturing PMI, non manufacturing business activity index and comprehensive PMI output index were 49.5%, 48.4% and 48.8% respectively, 0.7, 3.2 and 2.4 percentage points lower than that of the previous month. The three indexes fell below the critical point. The overall prosperity level of China's economy fell and the operating pressure of enterprises increased.
The expansion of manufacturing industry slowed down against the season, and the production and demand fell simultaneously at both ends. In March 2022, the PMI of China's manufacturing industry was 49.5%, 0.7 percentage points lower than that of the previous month. The outlook of the manufacturing industry fell below the boom and bust line, and the expansion of the manufacturing industry slowed down against the season. Both ends of production and demand fell simultaneously: the production end was mainly affected by the epidemic, and some enterprises in some areas reduced production and stopped production, which also dragged down the normal production and operation of relevant upstream and downstream enterprises; On the demand side, affected by the epidemic and the intensification of international geopolitical conflicts, the export orders of some enterprises have been reduced or directly cancelled, and the market demand of manufacturing industry has been weakened. In March, the supplier delivery time index fell to the lowest point since March 2020, which greatly affected the stability of the manufacturing supply chain. On the one hand, the epidemic situation in China has led to insufficient personnel on duty, poor logistics and transportation, and prolonged delivery cycle; On the other hand, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has also had a negative impact on the global supply chain. The epidemic situation and geographical conflict have a great impact on the stability of the manufacturing supply chain.
