CHINA’S manufacturing activity contracted in April, official figures showed today, due to slack global demand and a slow domestic recovery after lifting Covid-related curbs.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a key gauge of Chinese factory output – fell to 49.2 in April from 51.9 in March, and below the 50-point mark that separates expansion and contraction in activity, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.