China's consumer confidence drops in June

BEIJING - Chinese consumers, particularly those with bank cards, showed weaker confidence in consumption last month, partly due to an unfavorable economic situation, according to an index released Tuesday.

The Bankcard Consumer Confidence Index (BCCI), compiled by the Xinhua News Agency and China UnionPay, a national bank card association, dropped 0.87 points to hit 85.56 points in June from May, marking the third month-on-month decline.

The index was down 1.11 points on a year-on-year basis last month, according to a report issued along with the index. A lower reading in the index shows a decline in consumers' desire to spend.

The report partly attributed the drop to an unfavorable macroeconomic situation in China.

The purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector fell to 50.1 percent in June from 50.8 percent in May, according to data issued by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

The drop indicated weakening expansion in manufacturing activity and will exert downward pressure on the economy, the report said.

The report also cited plunges in the stock market as a factor that dampened consumer confidence, as the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dived more than 13 percent last month.

The BCCI index, first released in April 2009, is based on bank card transaction data and analyses of structural changes in urban consumption.