A labourer works at a textile mill in Huaibei, Anhui province, in this August 1, 2012 file picture. China’s vast manufacturing sector has been badly hit by slowing new orders, a weekend survey showed, a sign that the pace of growth in the world’s second-largest economy will weaken well into the third quarter. China’s official factory purchasing managers’ index (PMI) — one of the early indicators of the state of the economy — fell to a lower-than-expected 49.2 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said September 2, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer/Files
