A worker works at a factory of a plastic products company in Ning'an City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, May 21, 2020. Up to now, all the enterprises above designated size in the city have resumed production.Photo:Xinhua

China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for May stood at 50.6, lower than analysts' expectation of 51, but reflects the economic recovery amid continuous efforts to prevent a second wave of imported COVID-19 infections.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country's manufacturing PMI slid 0.2 percentage points month-on-month in May, but has been in the expansion territory for three straight months since the COVID-19 outbreak.

Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician with the NBS, noted that 81.2 percent of the companies polled have resumed more than 80 percent of manufacturing and their operations continue to see improvement.

According to the survey, the manufacturing indexes of 14 industries including food, petroleum processing and auto manufacturing remain in the expansion territory, while textiles, the apparel industry and wood processing have seen a contraction.

Tian Yun, a vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, told the Global Times on Sunday that flappy overseas demand amid the global pandemic partially dragged down China's export sector even though economic activities in Europe have start to recover.

The manufacturing sector's new export order index remained at low level of 35.3 percent in May, slightly up 1.8 percentage points from April, according to the NBS.

China's non-manufacturing PMI expanded to 53.6 in May, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, said the NBS. 

The country's consumption sector continues to recover, along with the implementation of measures to spur residents' consumption. However, the index covering culture, sports and entertainment remained low at 44.5 percent in May.

The performance of the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors indicated that the country's economy may turn to positive growth in June, Tian predicted, noting that China's GDP growth may still slightly shrink year-on-year in the second quarter.

"Chinese economic growth will continue to drive the global economy, as the economy has stayed unchanged and will remain sound in the long run," he said.