China’s manufacturing activities in private and export-oriented companies grew in December at the slowest pace in three months, the latest evidence that structural reforms have slowed China’s economic growth, a survey showed yesterday. The HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index, which measures operating conditions in largely private companies, fell slightly to 50.5 from November’s 50.8, according to HSBC Holdings Plc. The reading was flat from a flash reading released on December 16. A reading above 50 means expansion. Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC, said the decline was mainly due to slower output growth, but a steady increase of new orders kept the PMI in the expansion territory for the fifth consecutive months. “The recovering momentum since August 2013 is continuing into 2014, in our view,” said Qu. “With inflation still benign, we expect the current monetary and fiscal policy to remain […]