China is losing its crown as the “world’s factory” as foreign investors and the Chinese themselves move manufacturing to places like Africa — where labor is cheaper than in China, AsiaNewsIT reports.

More and more industries are relocating to Africa, where the average salary is
$50 U.S., according to the report. In Guangdong (Shenzhen), the minimum wage is about $300 U.S.

China’s economy is slowing again, with non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) down 1.2 points compared to December — the lowest figure in five years indicating a further contraction of the national economy.

Hotels, services, mail, transport, construction and public utilities fell below the 50-point threshold in January.

The PMI index for the non-manufacturing sector in January 2014 was 53.4, a drop of 1.2 points from the previous month. This data, released by the National Statistics Office, is the lowest in the last five years.

It shows that there are fewer orders from abroad, but also in less internal demand.

However, the index for the commercial activities related to rail transportation remained at a high value of 60, even if a slowdown is noticeable, AsiaNewsIT reports.

The reduction in the non-manufacturing PMI came a few days after publication of industrial PMI, which also dropped (to 50.5 in January from 51 in December) — the lowest figure in the last six months.