China Manufacturing Expands Despite War, Wobbly Domestic Demand
A workers handles a caster wheel at a factory in Foshan, China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergChinese construction activity suffered its biggest slump since the early stages of the Covid pandemic and the services sector fell back into contraction, even as exports kept factories humming despite the disruptions caused by the war in Iran.
Powered by demand overseas, the official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fared better than forecast in April but slipped to 50.3, remaining above the threshold that separates contraction from growth, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday.