Chinese manufacturing slows

Chinese manufacturing growth slowed for the third straight month in July, the Wall Street Journal reported. China's purchasing managers’ index, a measure of new export orders, fell by about 2% last month. Analysts credited lthe recent export-tax rebate cuts with reducing the number of new orders. Beijing welcomes the cooling of the country’s export sector amid concerns that manufacturing may be threatening to overheat the wider economy. China's export-fueled economy grew 11.5% in the first half of 2007, a rate that is widely seen as unsustainable. Analysts repeated that manufacturing growth still remained strong, but that the sector no longer seemed to be accelerating.