中文
China's factory activity bounced further into expansion territory in February, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on March 1.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 52.6 last month, up from 50.1 in January, NBS data showed. That marks the highest reading since April 2012, when it hit 53.5. The 50-mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
The official non-manufacturing PMI, which measures business sentiment in the services and construction sectors, rose to 56.3 in February from 54.4 in January.
The official composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and services activity, rose to 56.4 in February, up from 52.9 in January.
"In February, the economic stabilization policy measures further took effect, coupled with the epidemic's impact receding and other favorable factors, the speed of enterprises to resume production accelerated, meaning China's economic prosperity level continued to rebound," said senior NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe.
Also released on March 1, the Caixin/S&P Global manufacturing PMI rose to 51.6 last month, up from 49.2 in January.
The reading marks the first monthly expansion since July and the highest reading since June. The strength in the Caixin PMI aligns with an official survey, that showed China's factory activity gained steam.
The removal of stringent coronavirus containment measures has helped restore business operations and client demand, sending factory output growth to the highest since June as workers recovered from infections.
Subindex for new orders jumped to 54.1 from 50.9 a month earlier, suggesting the demand continued to recover. Production activity accelerated significantly, with the subindex up by 6.9 percentage points to 56.7.
"In a nutshell for February, the economy saw a faster pace of recovery following a peak in the recent wave of COVID infections as supply and demand expanded, overseas demand surged, employment started to rebound, and logistics recovered at a faster pace," said Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group.
The annual parliamentary meeting kicking off on March 4 is expected to announce China's 2023 economic growth target, a new economic team and policy strategy.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Tammy Yang)
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