China's January manufacturing business confidence index surpassed the '50' mark for the first time in four months.
The focus is on whether this trend will continue in the future, due to the fact that demand has recovered as a result of the change in measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
According to the PMI of 3,200 manufacturing companies surveyed by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the index for January was 50.1, up 3.1 percentage points from the previous month.
It is the first time in four months that the index has surpassed the 50 mark, which determines whether the economy is good or not.
Last month, business confidence fell due to the rapid spread of the new coronavirus, but since then, the peak of infections has passed in many cities, and demand has recovered with the end of the "zero corona" policy, which entails strict restrictions on movement. This is due to factors such as the progress of
The business confidence index for non-manufacturing industries such as the service industry in January also increased significantly by 12.8 points from December to 54.4.
This is also the first time in four months that the milestone “50” has been exceeded.
The number of tourists during the Chinese New Year holidays has returned to nearly 90% of what it was before the spread of the infection, and the food and beverage, accommodation, and transportation industries have recovered.
The National Bureau of Statistics said, ``Companies have clearly seen positive changes compared to last month, but there are still many companies in the manufacturing and service industries that say they are experiencing a shortage of demand.'' The focus will be on whether it will continue.