A gauge of China’s non-manufacturing industries declined to an eight-month low in September, adding pressure on the government to step up stimulus to counter a property downturn. The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index dropped to 54.0 from 54.4 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today in Beijing, Bloomberg reported. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. The reading suggests a property slump is dragging services industries, which had been among the better performing areas of the economy this year. After industrial production growth slowed to a five-year low in August and investment growth moderated, a slowing expansion of services adds a further hurdle to the government’s gross domestic product goal.
