China's March Manufacturing PMI at 52.0... Rebound Overcoming COVID-19 Impact (Update)

[Asia Economy Beijing=Correspondent Sunmi Park] China's manufacturing sector in March made a 'surprising' recovery, overcoming the shock of COVID-19.

On the 31st, the National Bureau of Statistics of China announced that the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for March recorded 52.0. This exceeded experts' expectations of 44.8 and rose 16.3 points from February's historic low of 35.7, surpassing the baseline of 50. The non-manufacturing PMI for March also recorded 52.3, up 22.7 points from the all-time low of 29.6 in February.

The PMI uses 50 as the baseline; a reading above 50 indicates economic expansion, while below 50 indicates contraction. As it is the earliest monthly economic indicator released, it is recognized as an important gauge of the economic situation.

The dramatic improvement in the manufacturing PMI is analyzed as a result of efforts to normalize the economy, such as restarting factories that had halted operations. This is evidence that China is quickly overcoming the economic shock of COVID-19 and moving toward normalization.

Looking at the detailed manufacturing PMI data, the production index, which indicates production trends, rose 26.3 points from the previous month to 54.1. The new orders index also recorded 52, up 22.7 points, revealing the recovery of the manufacturing market. The raw materials inventory index and employment index recorded 49.0 and 50.9 respectively, rising 15.1 and 19.1 points from the previous month. By company size, large enterprises recorded 52.6, medium enterprises 51.5, and small enterprises 50.9, showing more distinct recovery with larger scale.

The National Bureau of Statistics stated, "As of March 25, the operating resumption rate of medium and large enterprises in China was 96.6%, up 17.7 percentage points from the survey on February 25, showing a stable recovery of production and living order," and added, "Due to the effectiveness of COVID-19 prevention measures, the production and management conditions of enterprises have clearly improved compared to February." However, it added, "Since the PMI sensitively reflects short-term economic changes, it shows the improvement in enterprises' production and management conditions, but it is premature to judge that the Chinese economy has fully normalized. The trend needs to be continuously monitored."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.