Jie Zhao | Corbis | Getty Images
Chinese workers at a cloth factory in Huaibei, China.
A survey focused on small and mid-size manufacturing in China surpassed expectations to hit a six-month high in February.
The Caixin/Markit manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index for February came in at 51.6. Economists polled by Reuters expected the private Caixin/Markit PMI to come in at 51.3 in February versus 51.5 in January.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below that signals contraction.
The Caixin/Markit survey focuses on small and mid-size businesses in China and comes after the world’s second-largest economy reported official February manufacturing PMI on Wednesday that hit an 19-month low of 50.3.
China’s economy surprised on the upside in 2017, but economists expect a managed slowdown this year to hit growth.
The Chinese government is cracking down on high debt levels and heavily polluting industries while engineering a transition toward a services and consumption-led economy.
Caixin/Markit is set to release its China services PMI reading for February next Monday.
