BEIJING - Stock markets in China slumped yesterday following the release of a private survey which heightened concerns that growth in the world's second-largest economy is decelerating.迷你倉將軍澳Shanghai's benchmark index suffered its biggest loss in a month, shedding 1.6 per cent, after British bank HSBC disclosed that China's manufacturing activity in December expanded at its slowest pace in three months.Hong Kong shares dropped to four-week lows, with the key Hang Seng Index closing down 0.6 per cent.The preliminary version of HSBC's purchasing managers' index (PMI) slipped to 50.5 this month from 50.8 last month. The index uses a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 indicate a contraction.HSBC expects China's growth to stabilise at around 7.8 per cent year on year in the fourth quarter, unchanged from the official figure for the third quarter.Nomura International analyst Zhang Zhiwei warned, however, that the easing in this month's figure indicated China's growth was losing steam."The decline in the flash PMI suggests growth momentum has started to weaken," he said, adding that the trend is likely to continue in the first half of next year."The reading confirms our view that Chinese GDP (gross domestic product) growth is already decelerating," said Mr Dariusz Kowalczyk, a senior economist and strategist at Credit Agricole CIB 迷你倉尖沙咀n Hong Kong.The HSBC report may signal that China's Communist Party will face pressure in the coming months to support growth in the short term as President Xi Jinping rolls out reforms to sustain expansion for the rest of the decade.Beijing warned during a key conference last week that China's economy faces "downward pressure" amid overcapacity and local government debt risks.China's leaders pledged to tackle local government debt next year while creating a stable economic and social environment to promote reforms.The conference - held to map out economic policies for next year - concluded that China should seek "reasonable" growth in GDP."Expectations are that next year's economic growth won't be great," said Shanxi Securities analyst Du Liang."The previous positives on reforms have been priced in and the conference details released didn't show any highlights for economic growth. Sentiment turned negative again, and investors have started to sideline themselves."Factory output in the euro zone, meanwhile, grew at a faster pace than economists forecast this month, led by Germany, as the currency bloc continued its gradual recovery from a record- long recession.An index based on a survey of purchasing managers in the manufacturing industry increased to 52.7, a 31-month high, from 51.6 last month.BLOOMBERG, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSEmini storage
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