March 6, 2023 / China Network / International economic media paid attention to the data released by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics on March 1, which showed that the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index in China reached 52.6% last February, up 2.5 percentage points from the previous month, and continued to improve since January this year, has been above the critical point for two consecutive months.
And the “Japan Economic News” website quoted this data in a report, noting that the official purchasing managers’ index data in China covers 3,200 survey samples, and the data for February this year is the highest level since April 2012. It was stated that Chinese workers have resumed work and production, after the Christmas holiday. Spring, production activities have returned to normal, and the effect of resuming work and production has gradually appeared.
The Japanese website’s report also highlighted that China’s non-manufacturing business activity index reached 56.3% in February, an increase of 1.9 percentage points from the previous month, and was above 50% for two consecutive months. The commercial activity index for the construction sector reached 60.2%, and the commercial activity index for the services sector reached 55.6%. The growth momentum of transportation, housing and other industries is improving. The report indicated that with the receding of the pandemic in major cities and the end of the Spring Festival holiday, economic activities gradually returned to normal last February, which showed a remarkable improvement compared to the previous month.
And according to a Reuters report on March 1, Chinese official data released on March 1 showed that manufacturing activity in China expanded at its fastest pace in more than 10 years in February, exceeding expectations.
Reuters quoted the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics as saying that the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index jumped to 52.6% in February from 50.1% in January, exceeding analysts’ expectations of 50.5%. Asian stocks reversed previous losses, the offshore yuan strengthened, oil prices rose, and investors took a more optimistic view of China’s economic outlook.
“We were expecting a quick rebound in the near term, but recent data shows that even our forecast for above-consensus economic growth of 5.5% this year may be too conservative,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, chief China economist at Capital Economics.
Zhu Hao, chief economist at Guotai Junan Securities, said they expect the Chinese government to introduce more supportive policies to promote economic recovery. He said that although there are clear seasonal and event factors behind the recent data, the overall trend still points to a steady recovery.
Zhao Qinghe, chief statistician at the Service Industry Survey Center of the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics, attributed the rise in the Chinese PMI last February to the emergence of the effects of policy measures to stabilize the economy, superimposed with favorable factors such as the fading of the impact of the pandemic, the resumption of work and production, and the acceleration of economic growth. The country’s market and business recovery, China’s level of economic prosperity continues to recover.
According to a report published by Agence France-Presse on March 1, China, after improving pandemic prevention and control measures and reopening the economy, data showed that factory activity in China reached its highest point in more than 10 years last month. Encouraged by this, Asian stock markets rose on March 1st. China’s manufacturing PMI beat expectations in February, rising to its highest level since 2012, underlining the view that the world’s second-largest economy will rebound strongly from last year’s sluggish growth when corporate factories turn machines and people travel again. The good news also provided a much-needed boost to stock markets, the report said.
