China August factory activity shrinks at fastest pace in three years, services cool

China's factories continued to suffer from sluggish demand at home and abroad, which has saddled some firms with enormous amounts of idle capacity and forced them to cut prices, eating into profits. New export orders fell to 47.7 from 47.9 in July, contracting for an 11th consecutive month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. A preliminary, private survey released in August showed China's factory sector shrank at its fastest rate in almost 6-1/2 years in August, fanning glo