China’s Factory Activity Edges up, Snapping 8-Month Slide

Employees working on a Neolix X3 vehicle production line at a factory of Chinese autonomous delivery vehicle maker Neolix in Yancheng, in eastern China's Jiangsu province. Photo by JADE GAO / AFP

China’s factory activity ticked up slightly in December, official data showed Wednesday, an unexpected silver lining to cap an otherwise lacklustre end to the year for the world’s second-largest economy.

A key measure of industrial health, the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index came in at 50.1 this month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

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