China manufacturing growth picks up in June

Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest pace this year in June, an official survey showed on Tuesday, in a sign that Beijing’s attempts to tackle slowing growth in the world’s number two economy are gaining traction. The official purchasing managers index (PMI) hit 51.0 last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. The figure is up from 50.8 in May and is the best since a similar reading in December. The index tracks manufacturing activity in China’s factories and workshops and is a closely watched indicator of the health of the economy. A reading above 50 indicates growth, while anything below points to contraction. The result, however, was marginally below the median 51.1 forecast in a survey of eight economists by Dow Jones. Separately, a private survey published by British bank HSBC put China’s PMI at 50.7 in June – slightly below the preliminary reading of 50.8 released last month but well above May’s 49.4. The expansion was the survey’s first since December. Authorities have since April rolled out a series of measures to bolster growth, including tax breaks for small enterprises, targeted infrastructure outlays and incentives to encourage lending in rural areas and to small companies. ‘The continued recovery in manufacturing comes despite subdued property sales data for June,’ Julian Evans-Pritchard, China economist for Capital Economics, said in a report, according to AFP.