Asian industry slows down, but no serious concerns

Factories in China slowed production in June for the first time in 15 months while manufacturers in other major Asian countries eased the pace of growth in output, according to new data released on Thursday. Even as output lowered in China, expansion slowed in Japan, South Korea, India and Taiwan.

This marks an easing of a surge in growth in the Asian region that followed the global financial crisis.

However, factory activity - which includes variables in addition to output - continued to expand in the five countries, which suggest a return to more normal rates of growth rather than a contraction.

The most striking change in growth has come in China, where both the official and unofficial purchasing managers' indices (PMI) showed that growth in manufacturing had slowed markedly. The official Chinese PMI fell to 52.1 in June from 53.9 in May, while the unofficial HSBC index fell to 50.4 from 52.7.

An index figure above 50 indicates an expansion of activity while a figure below 50 indicates a contraction.

Both indices reported a figure of just below 50 for output, with the official index also reporting falls in the sub-indices for new orders, new export orders, backlogs of work, imports and employment all falling on the month, though not all turned negative.