New | China’s factory index shrinks for third month, signalling need for more stimulus

Workers produce clothes in a factory in China's Anhui province. Photo: AFP

China’s factory activity contracted for a third month in May and output shrank at the fastest rate in just over a year, a private survey showed, indicating persistent weakness in the world’s second-largest economy that requires increased policy support.

The poor reading, which followed a raft of downbeat April data, reinforced analysts’ views that Beijing has to take bolder steps to combat a protracted slowdown, as growth threatens to drop below 7 per cent for the first time since the global financial crisis.

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