CHINA FACTORY ACTIVITY RISES
PMI jumps to 50.5 as manufacturing output grew last month, ending a 4-month downtrend
CHINA’S manufacturing sector ended its fourmonth downward trend last month, official data showed yesterday, but exports continued their long slide in the wake of the Washington-Beijing trade war.
The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a measure of factory activity, rose to 50.5 last month from the previous month’s contraction and three-year low of 49.2.
The growth was likely driven by seasonal factors as factories ramped up production after February’s Lunar New Year holidays.
Some steel mills and coal power plants also increased output as winter smog restrictions end.
Factory output grew at its fastest pace in six months last month, China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported, but export orders shrank for the 10th straight month amid slowing global growth and as collateral damage in the trade war the United States.
Over the last eight months, Washington and Beijing have slapped tariffs on more than US$360 billion (RM1.4 trillion) in two-way goods trade, weighing on the manufacturing sectors in both countries.
US and Chinese negotiators wrapped up trade talks in Beijing on Friday ahead of another round this week, when China’s economic tsar Liu He will head to Washington to continue discussions on a possible deal.
China had announced a raft of stimulus measures to cushion the impact from its cooling economy.
Earlier last month, Premier Li Keqiang announced more spending on roads, railways and other big-ticket infrastructure projects, along with tax cuts worth US$297.27 billion to ease pressure on companies and spur employment.
China announced a lower growth target of 6.0 to 6.5 per cent this year, down from 6.6 per cent growth last year.