China’s Manufacturing Rose to a Five Year High

China’s factory activity ticked up again last month to its highest level in five years, according to an official survey released Friday, in a fresh sign that the world’s No. 2 economy is picking up steam.

The index based on a survey of purchasing managers climbed for a second straight month in March to 51.8, its strongest level since April 2012, from 51.6 in the previous month.

The PMI by the Chinese Federation of Logistics and Purchasing is based on a 100-point scale, with numbers above 50 indicating expansion.

“The manufacturing sector continued to maintain a steady trend,” said Zhao Qinghe of the National Bureau of Statistics, which released the report. Production and new orders were key drivers of the latest growth, Zhao said, adding that high-tech manufacturing grew rapidly while conditions in traditional industrial production improved.

The report’s measures of production and new orders expanded at a faster pace in China’s key manufacturing sector, which is a major part of the broader economy employing many millions of workers churning out electronics, clothes and toys for export.

via Mainichi

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