(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Chinese manufacturing business activity continued to expand in April, official data showed Friday.
The official manufacturing purchasing manager's index (PMI), a key measure of factory activity in China, posted at 50.1 on a 100-point scale last month, unchanged from March's reading but edged up from 49.9 for February, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. The official manufacturing PMI samples 3,000 enterprises of various sizes nationwide. A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates growth from the previous month, while a reading below 50 represents contraction in China's manufacturing sector.
The index is a closely watched barometer of the health of the world's second-biggest economy. "China's manufacturing PMIs in the last three months were lingering around the expansion/contraction threshold but some PMI sub-indices in April have shown encouraging signs," state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted National Bureau of Statistics Senior Analyst Zhao Qinghe as saying.
"The production sub-index posted at 52.6, the highest monthly reading since November last year," Zhao said. "Chinese companies are cautiously optimistic over China's economic growth prospects, thanks to a string of encouraging signals in both the Chinese and global economy and a price rebound in commodities such as oil," he said, although he admitted the downward pressure faced by China's manufacturing sector, such as weak domestic and global demand.
China targets economic growth of approximately 7 percent in 2015, lower than the 7.4-percent economic growth rate registered in 2014 and he lowest in 11 years. (end) mk.tg
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.