China's private manufacturing gauge held firmly in growth territory in October, with the RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI compiled by S&P Global easing to 52.0 from 52.1, but factories cut selling prices to keep orders coming in.

The reading, released Monday at 9:45 a.m. Beijing time, beat the 51.6 median forecast in a Reuters poll and marked the 11th straight month above the 50 line that separates expansion from contraction. Trading Economics said that is the longest such run since mid-2021.

For investors in Asia, the price detail matters as much as the headline. Output charges fell for the second time in three months and export prices dropped for the first time since November 2025, Reuters reported. Cheaper Chinese goods help buyers abroad, but they put pressure on competing manufacturers across the region and point to thinner margins for Chinese exporters.

RatingDog PMI and the Official Survey Diverge

The private survey paints a brighter picture than the official one. The National Bureau of Statistics said Saturday its manufacturing PMI fell to 49.3 from 50.1, as the production index slid to 49.8 and new orders dropped to 49.4. Capital Times reported the official decline on Saturday.

The two polls measure different slices of industry. The RatingDog survey covers about 650 manufacturers and leans toward export-oriented firms, while the official survey samples more than 3,000 companies, according to investingLive. The NBS data also showed a sharp split by size: large firms stayed at 50.2, while the indexes for medium and small enterprises fell to 48.4 and 47.5.

In the private survey, output grew at the fastest pace since April, with gains in consumer, intermediate and investment goods and the steepest rise in investment goods, S&P Global said. New orders rose for a 17th month, and Reuters reported the sub-index eased only slightly, to 53.3 from 53.4. Trading Economics, summarizing the release, said demand was helped by new product launches.

Overseas sales were the softer part. New export orders grew for a fourth month, but at a modest pace and the slowest in three months, S&P Global said. The official gauge was weaker still: the NBS new export orders index fell to 48.7 from 50.0, and the imports index dropped to 47.0 from 49.2.

Manufacturers kept buying. Purchasing activity rose at the fastest pace since February, and stocks of inputs grew at the strongest rate in five months, according to the release. Suppliers' delivery times shortened for the first time in eight months, though only slightly. Employment rose marginally, and backlogs of work increased for a ninth month.

China's Factory Prices Ease as Competition Bites

Cost pressure cooled in both surveys. Average input prices in the RatingDog poll rose for a 16th month, but the rate of increase slowed from September and stayed below its average for the year so far. Companies said intense competition led them to cut what they charge customers.

The official figures moved the same way from a higher level. The NBS index of main raw material purchase prices fell to 56.8 from 60.8, and the factory-gate price index dropped to 51.7 from 54.0, both still above 50. Xinhua cited the NBS as tying part of the easing to recent declines in some nonferrous metal and commodity prices.

Sentiment has slipped. Business confidence in the private survey stayed positive but fell to a nine-month low, as companies worried about input costs and competition, S&P Global said. Yao Yu, founder of RatingDog, said in the release that he expects the PMI to stay in expansion in the near term, while flagging cost pressures, price competition and subdued confidence as risks to watch.

The official expectations index told a similar story of mild caution. It eased to 53.4 from 53.8, the NBS data showed.

What Comes Next

Outside factories, the official numbers were flat to weaker: the NBS services index stood at 50.0 and the composite output index fell to 49.7 from 50.7, China Daily reported. The services new orders index dropped 1.5 points to 45.2, a sign that the price competition factories describe may extend beyond manufacturing.

The China data arrived alongside a regional round of factory surveys, which showed chip-heavy exporters such as South Korea losing momentum. For Chinese factories, the next hard test is October trade data from customs, which will show whether the slowdown in export orders in both surveys has fed through to actual shipments.