China's manufacturing output fell sharply in November, just the latest sign that the global economic slowdown is impacting on its economy.
The official purchasing managers' index declined to 38.8 in November, from 44.6 in October, with any figure under 50 indicating a contraction.
The fall was caused by a sharp drop in new orders, especially from abroad.
China's President Hu Jintao has warned that the global financial crisis is hitting the country's competitiveness.
'Grim month'
"Another grim month for China manufacturing and the first in which the weakness in overseas demand overtook what, until now, has been mainly a domestic slowdown," said Eric Fishwick, head of economic research at CLSA.
The latest official figure from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing was the worst since the data was first published in 2004.
Government economist Zhang Ligun said the economy was now "slowing down at an accelerating rate".
The annual rate of Chinese economic growth has now slowed to 9%, with economists predicting it may fall to as low as 7% in 2009.
9月份中国工厂产量急剧下降,最新预示全球经济减缓正在影响中国经济, 官方采购经理人指数从十月份的44.6减少到11月份的38.8, 任何低于50的数字都表明处于收缩状态。 这种下滑主要是因为国外新定单急速减少所造成。 中国主席胡锦涛警告说全球金融危机正在打击中国的国家竞争力。 位于CLSA的经济研究院的领导埃立克 费瑟威克说: 对中国工厂来说又是一个残酷的月份, 最初是国外需求的减少,到现在已经主要成为国内需求的减弱。 中国物流和采购联合会的最新官方数据是2004年来公开的最坏的数据。 政府经济学家张立刚说 经济正在以某种加速度减慢。 中国经济的年度增率现在减缓到9%,经济学家预测将会在2009年减缓到7%
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