Industry PMI Photo:VCG

China's factory activity in February continued to pick up momentum as enterprises across the country steadily resumed production after the Spring Festival holidays, indicating improved market demand, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday. 

According to the NBS, the manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) reached 50.2 in February, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. 

Both market demand and supply expanded in February following a slowdown in January which resulted from the Spring Festival holidays, showing that the release of market demand in the manufacturing sector accelerated following the holiday period, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said.

On the one hand, the rise in the PMI showed that the implementation of "stay put" policies in many places in the country had promoted industrial output to tick up, according to analysts at the Zhixin Investment Research Institute.

On the other hand, the reading showed that policies intended to ensure the stable growth of the country's economy have started to have an effect. In terms of the manufacturing industry in February, industrial output has remained stable, with both internal and external demand keeping rising.

The price index rose significantly, affected by surging prices of raw materials for products such as oil and coal, leading to a faster increase in their selling prices.

Industrial restructuring advanced steadily, with the figures for high-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing reaching 53.1 and 51.4, up 1.2 and 1.1 percentage points, respectively.

Enterprises' expectations for the manufacturing sector continued to rebound after the authorities announced supportive policies to promote the steady development of the nation's industrial economy.

Zhao noted that enterprises are still facing multiple challenges in production and operation, such as the high cost of raw materials and labor, stating that it is important to implement policies that will ease the difficulties of enterprises to ensure the stable growth of the industry backed up by targeted support.

The composite PMI for February stood at 51.2, up 0.2 points month-on-month, showing that the expansion of production and business activities of Chinese enterprises are accelerating.