China’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in three months in February, despite the looming threat that Donald Trump will impose tariffs this week.
Production at China’s factories returned to growth last month, an official survey showed, thanks to higher new orders and purchase volumes.
Beijing’s official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.2 for February, up from 49.1 in January, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported, above the 50-point mark showing stagnation.
The NBS statistician Zhao Qinghe said the PMI data in February was helped by factories resuming production after the spring festival holiday, when many shut down temporarily.
China officials are expected to discuss the state of the economy when they meet in Beijing for an annual parliamentary meeting on Tuesday, the day when Trump has said an extra 10% tariff on Chinese imports will begin.
Those tariffs could dent demand for Chinese goods in the US, and could lead China to direct unwanted goods to Europe instead, potentially pushing down European inflation and hurting Europe’s manufacturers.
Zhiwei Zhang, the chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, said it remained to be seen “how much will the US raise tariffs next week, [and] how damaging will it be for China’s export orders”.
