PMI Photo:VCG

 China's manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) in July picked up to 51.1, slightly higher than the market expectation of 50.7, showing a steady recovery in the country's manufacturing industry despite a handful of recent coronavirus outbreaks in certain provinces.

It is the fifth consecutive month that China's manufacturing PMI has expanded. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 reflects contraction. 

 In June, the manufacturing PMI stood at 50.9, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 

The production sub-index stood at 54 percent in July, up 0.1 percentage points from June, indicating sustained improvement in Chinese enterprises' production operations.  

In July, the new order sub-index rose 0.3 percentage points from the previous month to 51.7 percent, showing a bounce back in demand from the supply side. The index has expanded for three consecutive months. The employment sub-index was up 0.2 percentage points from June to 49.3 percent in July, a sign of improvement in China's labor market.   

Wang Jun, deputy director of the information department at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, told the Global Times on Friday that the steady uptick in China's manufacturing industry precluded a robust recovery for the rest of the year.

"There are some small outbreaks in certain cities, but their impact is short-term and controllable as Chinese policymakers have accumulated rich experience in balancing virus prevention and business resumption," Wang noted. 

However, China's consumption still remains sluggish, which analysts said could cast a shadow on the country's economic prospects. 

The PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 54.2 percent in July, down 0.2 percentage points from June but still falling in the expansion territory, data from the NBS showed. The composite PMI output index also edged down 0.1 percentage points from June to 54.1 percent in July.

Global Times