China Sept Factory PMI: Small Firms Improve but Stay in Contraction

The headline improvement in small and medium manufacturers is a move in the right direction, but both gauges remain below the 50 threshold, so the September reading describes a slower contraction rather than a return to growth. Large enterprises staying flat at expansion suggests the recovery is still concentrated at the top of the size spectrum. Whether the smaller-firm gains carry into the next print, or prove a one-month bounce, is the open question.