An independent survey of China’s manufacturing sector indicates business activity grew at the slowest pace since September last month as sluggish demand dragged on production, putting the country’s factories on uncertain footing at the start of the second quarter.
对中国制造业进行的一项独立调查显示，上月商业活动增速处于去年9月以来的最低水平，需求疲弱拖累生产，让中国工厂在第二季度的第一个月陷入不确定性之中。
The Caixin-Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index dropped to 50.3 in April, a seven-month low that put it substantially closer to the 50-point line separating growth from contraction compared to a reading of 51.2 in March, as well as further beneath the level reported by China’s official manufacturing gauge.财新(Caixin) Markit制造业采购经理人指数(PMI) 4月下降至50.3，为7个月以来的低点，距离50的荣枯线接近了很多（3月的该指数是51.2），它也进一步低于中国官方的制造业PMI。Manufacturers surveyed last month for the independent survey reported markedly slower growth in both output and new orders, with consumer goods output keeping overall production from falling further on declines from intermediate and investment goods.上月接受独立调查的制造商表示，产出和新订单增长均出现明显放缓，消费产品产出增长，使得整体产出没有因中间品和投资品的增长下降而进一步下降。Growth in new export orders also fell to a marginal level – and the weakest reading since the current four-month growth streak began – thanks to contraction in demand for capital goods.
由于资本商品需求萎缩，新出口订单增长也下降至边际水平——这在当前连续4个月增长期间是最为疲弱的读数。A sub-index for employment marked its 42nd consecutive month of contraction, with the pace of jobs shedding accelerating to the fastest pace since January. Inflation also slowed sharply, with growth in output prices rising at the slowest pace in eight months as input prices grew at the slowest pace in seven months.就业分项指数连续第42个月收缩，就业流失速度加快至今年1月以来的最快水平。通胀也急剧放缓，出厂价格增速是8个月以来最慢的，原材料购进价格出现7个月以来的最慢增速。The Caixin gauge, which focuses primarily on smaller, private manufacturers, came in markedly below the April reading of 51.2 from the official manufacturing PMI produced by the National Bureau of Statistics. The latter chiefly tracks larger state-owned companies, suggesting the latest fallback in growth is centred in the private sector.财新指数主要关注规模较小的民营企业，该指数明显低于中国国家统计局(NBS)公布的4月51.2官方制造业PMI指数——官方指数主要跟踪研究较大型国有企业的经营活动——这似乎表明最新的增长回落主要集中在私营领域。The latest Caixin reading also makes for a spread between the two gauges of 0.9 in favour of the official gauge, marking the widest spread between the two since June 2016.最新的财新指数也标志着比官方指数低0.9点，这是两项指数自2016年6月以来最大的差距。