China's factory activity noses up in July as demand grows

BEIJING: Factory activity in China edged upwards in July as the country's manufacturing sector gathered pace after a sharp coronavirus hit and demand gradually rebounded, according to official data published Friday.

China's closely watched Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a key gauge of manufacturing activity, has bounced back after measures to curb the coronavirus caused a dramatic plunge in February, and performed better than expected over the last month.

The PMI of the world's second-largest economy came in at 51.1 points in July, up from 50.9 the month before. This is better than the analyst expectations reflected in a Bloomberg poll, which forecast 50.9. Any figure above the 50-point mark represents growth rather than contraction.

Non-manufacturing PMI came in at 54.2 points, down from 54.4 in June and slightly worse than expected. Zhao Qinghe, senior statistician at the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said production had "generally rebounded" and demand had "gradually warmed up". "With the gradual relaxation of quarantine and lockdown measures, and resumption of economic activities in major economies around the world... the import and export of manufacturing industries have picked up," Zhao said.