A worker works at an assembly line of Voyah, a Chinese NEV brand, in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, April 9, 2025. (Photo: Xinhua)China's factory activity contracted for a second consecutive month in February, official data showed on Wednesday.
The official purchasing managers index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector came in at 49 in February, down from 49.3 in January, below the 50-point mark that indicates contraction, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Despite the overall contraction, key segments of the manufacturing sector remained resilient. The PMI for high-tech manufacturing stood at 51.5 in February, remaining in the expansionary territory.
Meanwhile, the subindex tracking manufacturers' expectations for production and business operations rose to 53.2 in February, up from 52.6 in January, pointing to stronger confidence among manufacturers.
Huo Lihui, an NBS statistician, attributed the February decline in the headline PMI to seasonal disruptions linked to the Spring Festival holiday.
"Historically, PMI readings tend to fluctuate during the month when the Spring Festival falls, and this year's extended holiday—which fell entirely in mid- to late February—weighed on production and business operations," Huo said in a statement released on NBS's official website. "As a result, factory activity moderated during the period."
Data from the NBS also showed that the subindex for production dipped to 49.6 in February, down from 50.6 in January, while the subindex for new orders fell to 48.6 in February from 49.2 in January.
Meanwhile, China's non-manufacturing PMI, which tracks the services and construction sectors, experienced a slight improvement, rising to 49.5 in February from 49.4 in January. The services PMI rose to 49.7 in February from 49.5 in January.
The country's official composite PMI, which tracks overall output in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors, fell to 49.5 in February from 49.8 in January, NBS data showed.
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