BEIJING — Factory activity in China unexpectedly returned to growth in November for the first time in seven months, but the gains were meager with more U.S. tariffs looming within weeks unless Beijing and Washington agree to defuse their damaging trade war.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 50.2 in November, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, versus 49.3 in October, slightly above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.
Analysts polled by Reuters had expected the November headline reading would come in at 49.5.
With China’s economic growth cooling to near 30-year lows and industrial profits shrinking, speculation is mounting that Beijing needs to roll out stimulus more quickly and more aggressively, even if it risks adding to a pile of debt. (Reporting by Beijing Monitoring Desk; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)
