China - September 06, 2024

Storyline:
The global manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for August remained unchanged from the previous month at 48.9, marking the fifth consecutive month below the 50 threshold.

This signals continued weakness in the global manufacturing sector, according to the data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) on Friday.

By regions, Asia's manufacturing PMI dipped 0.2 percentage points from July to 50.6, but remained above 50 for the eighth straight month.

Meanwhile, the index of Europe and the Americas saw slight improvements but remain below 50, indicating persisting weakness.

Africa's manufacturing PMI fell to 48.4, a 1.7-percentage-point drop from last month.

Experts say the global economy remains weak, indicating that downward pressure persists. Lingering geopolitical conflicts, high interest rates and insufficient policy stimulus continue to plague recovery efforts worldwide.

Shotlist:
FILE: China - Exact Location and Date Unknown:
1. Various of robotic arms in operation;
FILE: Indonesia - April 4, 2023:
2. Various of instant coffee production;
FILE: Hanoi, Vietnam - Dec 30, 2021:
3. Various of plastic production;
FILE: Schwarzheide, Germany - 2022:
4. Various of car production;
FILE: Racine, Wisconsin State, USA - December 2019:
5. Various of farming equipment production;
Beijing, China - Sept 6, 2024:
6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Xu Hongcai, deputy director, Economic Policy ;Commission, China Association of Policy Science (starting with shot 5/ending with shot 7):
"From the global perspective, effectively addressing economic downturns requires major economies to strengthen coordination of macroeconomic policies, particularly minimizing the negative spillover effects of policy adjustments, and enhance, stabilize and consolidate trade and economic cooperation."
FILE: North Las Vegas, USA - 2022:
7. Various of production line;
FILE: Atlantis, South Africa - Aug 2022:
8. Various of TV screen production;
FILE: Mbale, Uganda - 2021:
9. Various of clothing production;
FILE: Trieste, Italy - June 27, 2022:
10. Aerial shots of Trieste Marine Terminal, freight trains, containers.

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