Manufacturing PMI up in China

30-03-2019 Media in\ Beijing
China’s official PMI index in March reached 50.5, up 1.3 percentage points from the previous month, according to official data released today.
Zhao Qinghe, an official with China’s National Bureau of Statistics, said the PMI manufacturing index in March rose above 50 after it remained below the boom for three months.
The recovery in manufacturing expansion came at a time when factories resumed production after the Spring Festival holiday as sub-indices of production and new orders peaked in six months rising 3.2 percentage points to 52.7 and 1.0 percentage points to 51.6 respectively in March.
The Purchasing Managers Index for the high-tech manufacturing, equipment manufacturing and consumer goods manufacturing sectors was 52.0, 51.2 and 51.4 respectively, higher than the overall Manufacturing PMI in March, indicating a rapid advance in new growth engines.
The data showed that companies were more willing to buy as the sub-index of the volume of purchases in March rose to 51.2 from 48.3 in February.
As the global economy continued to recover at a slow pace, the new import and export demand sub-index saw a monthly increase to 48.7 and 47.1, respectively, but remained subdued.
The Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) was 51.1, down 0.4 percentage points from the previous month while the SME index was 49.3 and 49.9 respectively.
At the same time China’s non-manufacturing PMI rose 54.8 this month after it was within 54.3 in February.
The composite PMI, which covers manufacturing and services, rose 1.6 percentage points to 54 in March, showing a faster expansion in corporate business operations.