China's factories hit fastest pace in five months on rising orders
Factory activity on the mainland expanded at the fastest pace in five months in May owing to rising new orders, official data showed yesterday.
Factory activity on the mainland expanded at the fastest pace in five months in May owing to rising new orders, official data showed yesterday, reinforcing views the economy is regaining momentum in the second quarter following Beijing's targeted measures to bolster growth.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.8 last month from April's 50.4, the National Bureau of Statistics said, beating market expectations of 50.6.
"The PMI reading continued to improve in May, indicating that a trend of economic stabilisation is becoming more evident," said Zhang Liqun, a researcher at the Development Research Centre.
As one of the first leading indicators gauging economic momentum, the improved reading could bode well for other May data, bolstering market expectations that the economy is regaining some strength as the government's pro-growth measures started to kick in.
The survey showed a broad-based recovery in manufacturing activity in May, with nine of the 13 sub-indices pointing to improvement from the previous month.
A sub-index for new orders, a measure of foreign and domestic demand, edged up to 52.3 from 51.2 in April, marking the highest level since last November.
