BEIJING, June 30: Factory activity in China shrank for a second straight month in June, data showed Sunday, underscoring the countrys shaky economic recovery ahead of a key political gathering expected to focus on deepening reform.
The manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) -- a key measure of factory output -- registered at 49.5 in June, identical to Mays figure, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest official index was in line with a Bloomberg forecast based on a survey of economists.
A PMI figure below 50 indicates a decline activity, while anything above indicates an expansion.
Policymakers are due to convene in the capital Beijing in mid-July for a highly anticipated political gathering expected to focus on economic recovery.
Contraction in the manufacturing sector is a worrying sign for the worlds second-largest economy, which has struggled to regain momentum since late 2022, when Beijing scrapped tough pandemic policies that had weighed heavily on growth.
Chinas non-manufacturing PMI -- which takes activity in the services sector into account -- expanded in June at 50.5, the NBS also said Sunday. But despite the growth, that figure represented a drop from the 51.1 notched the previous month and was also lower than the 51.0 forecast by Bloombergs survey. —AFP
