2023-04-30 08:19:08
China’s manufacturing activity contracted unexpectedly in April, adding to the challenge facing the economy amid an uneven post-COVID recovery with slowing global demand and continued volatility in the country’s real estate sector.
Official data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed, on Sunday, that the official purchasing managers’ index in the manufacturing sector recorded 49.2, down from 51.9 in March, to be below the 50-point level that separates expansion and contraction in activity on a monthly basis.
The reading came in below expectations of 51.4.
The world’s second-largest economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter of the year, driven by a liberalization in consumer demand after the easing of COVID-19-related restrictions, but factory production slowed amid weak global growth.
And at the end of last March, official data showed a slowdown in the growth of manufacturing activity in China, which cast doubt on the strength of the recovery of the industrial sector in the world’s second largest economy.
As for the service sector, it was stronger and its activity grew at the fastest pace in nearly 12 years after the announced cancellation in December of China’s zero Covid policy boosted transportation, housing and construction activities.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector for March came in at 51.9, compared to 52.6 in February.
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