China’s factory, services shake off lockdown pain

China's factory and service sectors snapped three months of activity decline in June, business surveys showed on Thursday, as authorities lifted a strict Covid lockdown in Shanghai, reviving output and consumer spending.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 50.2 in June from 49.6 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

That slightly missed the forecast for 50.5 in a Reuters poll but rose above the 50-point mark that separates contraction from growth for the first time since February.

While activity has sped up since various Covid lockdowns imposed since March have been rolled back, headwinds persist, including a still subdued property market, soft consumer spending and fear of any recurring waves of infections.

"Today's NBS numbers were encouraging to see, even if manufacturing slightly underwhelmed and expectations were for an improvement given the easing of lockdown restrictions," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index.

Investors cheered the signs of economic recovery with China's major stock indices rallying more than 1 per cent and set for their biggest monthly rise in nearly two years.

A sub-index for production stood at 52.8, the highest since March 2021, while new orders also returned to expansionary territory for the first time in four months, although growth remained weak.