Workers fulfill orders and testing products in a production workshop of a company in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province on May 23, 2026. The company utilized production equipment imported under Hainan Free Trade Port's zero-tariff policy to independently manufacture and successfully export 773,000 transistors, with a total value of 1.849 million yuan. Photo: VCG

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector stood at 49.8 in August, up 0.6 points from July, pointing to a clear improvement in manufacturing momentum, official data showed Monday.

Huo Lihui, chief statistician at the Service Survey Center of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), said that the PMI rose from one month earlier in 16 of the 21 industrial sectors surveyed, indicating a marked improvement in manufacturing sentiment. The Service Survey Center of the NBS and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing released China's manufacturing PMI for August on Monday.

On the specifics, both production and demand in manufacturing expanded in tandem. The production index and the new-orders index stood at 50.4 percent and 50.6 percent, up 0.5 and 2.1 points from one month earlier, respectively. Domestic demand recovered noticeably, while overseas demand also improved.

He Hui, vice president of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, said that, in August, both domestic and overseas demand in manufacturing expanded to some extent. 

The new-orders index and the new-export-orders index rose markedly on both a year-on-year and month-on-month basis. The month-on-month change in market demand was better than in the same period last year, indicating that stronger policy support has effectively bolstered the momentum of economic growth.

Overall, extreme weather — including high temperatures, typhoons, and rainstorms and flooding — kept the August manufacturing PMI below the 50 threshold. However, as policies to expand domestic demand took better effect, the guiding and catalytic role of central budgetary investment became more evident, construction of the 109 major projects and the "six crucial networks" moved into a faster phase, summer consumption was released at a steady pace, and international market demand rose, according to a report by state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) News. 

Driven by these factors, the index rebounded clearly from the previous month, showing that manufacturing activity has stabilized and the level of prosperity has improved markedly, the report noted.

Global Times