It's the start of a new month and that means its PMI time - a leading indicator closely watched by investors and analysts to determine the health of economies. We start with China, where manufacturing activity contracted in November, for the first time in three years. The country’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index came in at its lowest since February 2009, on the back of weak export orders and a slowing domestic economy. The decline comes a day after the US Federal Reserve led a co-ordinated move to ease global liquidity concerns - particularly in Europe - and the Chinese central bank loosened monetary policy - I’m talking about the Triple R cut we got last night.

A labourer works at a textile mill in Huaibei, Anhui province September
22, 2011.

The official Purchasing Managers Index fell to 49 today, down 1.4 points from the 50.4 recorded in October.

The worse-than-expected fall marked the first decline since February 2009. A reading of less than 50 means the manufacturing sector has contracted.

Cai Jin, deputy director of China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said: "The decline of the PMI figure in November confirms a trend of cooling growth, but the pace of the growth slowdown will remain steady, and I expect GDP to stay at a range of between 9 and 9.2 percent. There will be a slim chance of great fluctuations."

In November, 10 industries, including transport facility manufacturing and oil refining, saw growth , while other sectors, such as food production, electronic facility manufacturing and non-ferrous metal smelting, contracted.

Zhang Liqun with State Council Development & Research Center said: "The fall of November PMI - lower than 50 is within expectations. A relatively strong momentum of domestic investment and consumption will help stave off a plunge. It’s a stable drop-back of growth for our country, and we shouldn’t worry too much about the future."

The official PMI is based on a survey of purchasing managers in more than 820 companies over 20 industries.

Source:cntv.cn