Despite a small pickup in output and export orders, the outlook for small, private manufacturers in China is overshadowed by a slowing economy and a “bigger than imagined” shock from the US trade war, economists said. A survey of Chinese factories showed weaker activity in December than November, despite the US and China reaching a trade war truce that averted new tariffs in the last month of the decade. The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which polls small private sector factory owners in China, fell for the first time in five months to 51.5 in December from 51.8 in November, according to data ... (full story)