| China has lifted price
controls on food, in the
latest sign that concern over
inflation has given way to
worries about the economic
slowdown. Caps on the prices of grain, edible oil, meat, dairy products and eggs were lifted with immediate effect, the National Development and Reform Commission
said on its website. The price controls had been imposed early this year when inflation was a bigger concern. This comes as new figures suggest that the country's manufacturing activity contracted sharply in November as a downturn in the Chinese economy worsened. The purchasing managers index, which measures new orders and
other factors, fell to 38.8 in November on a 100-point scale where
number below 50 indicates manufacturing activity is shrinking, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said. That was down from November's 44.6 and the lowest level since the survey started in 2005. |
