China's factory activities slow down in March amid COVID-19 resurgence
Beijing: The factory activities in China, a country witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases, likely shrank in March, media reports said on Friday.
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector has eased to 49.5 in March from 50.2 in February, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction, the news agency reported.
Clusters of epidemic outbreaks across the nation, along with rising global geopolitical uncertainties, have affected the production and operation of enterprises, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe told Xinhua.
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