China's PMI for manufacture returns to expansion territory in January

(ECNS) -- The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector stood at 50.1 in January, 3.1 higher than last month, returning to expansion territory for the first time since September 2022, according to data jointly released by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.

Given the further implementation of optimized COVID control measures, a package of stimulus policies taking effect gradually, market demand was quickly released in the short term.

The sub-index for new orders stood at 50.9 in January, up 2.2 percentage points from last December.

Driven by the rise of demand and more travelers, corporate production activities have also recovered, and the sub-index for production stopped declining for the first time over the past 3 months.

The demand for employment has risen, and the employee index has increased by 2.9 percentage points from the previous month.

Enterprises have a promising future, with the sub-index for production and operation activity expectation standing at 55.6, up 3.7 points from the previous month.