China's smallest manufacturers had a disappointing start to 2017

STR/AFP/Getty Images After improving at the fastest pace in four years in December, activity levels at smaller Chinese manufacturing firms cooled last month, according to new data released by IHS Markit on Friday. The group’s manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), produced in conjunction with Caixin, fell 0.9 points to 51.0 in January, disappointing markets who had been expecting a smaller deceleration to 51.8. The PMI measures changes in activity levels for small and medium-sized manu...