Employees work on an engine assembly line at an engine manufacturing factory in Qingzhou, in China's eastern Shandong province on April 16, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
BEIJING: China's manufacturing activity in July shrank for a third month, an official factory survey showed on Wednesday, keeping alive expectations Beijing will need to launch more stimulus as a protracted property crisis and job insecurity drag on growth.
The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.4 in July from 49.5 in June, below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction but beating a median forecast of 49.3 in a Reuters poll.
