China's Stats Bureau on the January PMIs (translation - 'its complicated')

The PMI's are compiled by National Bureau of Statistics and Federation of Logistics and Purchasing

• China official PMIs for January: Manufacturing 50.0 (expected 50.0) Services 54.1 (53.0)

Firstly - immediate comments from the NBS says

• the coronavirus impact is not fully reflected in this month's PMI.

OK, some details (this is me, not the NBS):

• the surveys were conducted prior to January 20, before this thing blew up
• the surveys were skewed by plans and purchasing ahead of the China New Year holiday (this happens around this time very year of course)

Looking ahead (again, this is me, not the officials):

• the coronavirus imp[act will be seen more fully in the February results (note, the long holiday has already been extended, and some provinces have asked for further extension to the holiday to deal with the outbreak)
• the March results … well, I suspect we will see big stimulus from China once this outbreak calms down which could give us a decent boost ahead