China's manufacturing PMI rise signals economic stabilisation

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.5 in May, up 0.5 percentage points from April, indicating an improvement in the industry's prosperity level and a stabilization in economic operations, showed official data released on Saturday.

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PMI, a measure of economic activity based on survey data from firms regarding factors like production, new orders and inventories, is commonly viewed as a benchmark for the health of the manufacturing sector.

The production index went up 0.9 percentage points to 50.7 per cent in May, rising above the threshold, representing an acceleration in production activities of manufacturing enterprises, showed data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics' Service Survey centre.

Meanwhile, the sub-indice of new orders was 49.8 per cent in May, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous month.

"In terms of industries, the production index and new order index of sectors such as agricultural and sideline food processing, dedicated device, and devices for railway, shipbuilding and aerospace are all above 54 per cent, which indicate that both supply and demand in these industries are growing rapidly," said Huo Lihui, head of business climate survey division of the Service Survey centre under the National Bureau of Statistics.

China's production index went up 0.9 percentage points to 50.7% in May.

According to a report from China Central Television (CCTV), the import and export indices showed a recovery in May.