China's economic data in May
PMI signals expansion
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| A local taxation bureau employee coaches a waitress in a guesthouse in a county of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on how to make out a VAT invoice by using the new taxation system on May 1, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] |
In May, China's manufacturing sector continued to grow steadily with the purchasing managers index (PMI) unchanged from last month at 51.2 percent.
It is the eight consecutive month that the PMI has remained between 51 percent and 52 percent.
A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion.
Non-manufacturing PMI continues rapid growth
Insert space between index and (seasonally adjusted)
In May, China's non-manufacturing purchasing manager index was 54.5 percent, 0.5 percentage points up from the previous month, maintaining position in the expansion range.
Exports up 15.5 percent, imports up 22.1 percent
China's imports grew faster than exports in May with customs data showing a 22.1 percent and 15.5 percent increase year-on-year respectively in yuan-denominated terms.Foreign trade volume reached 23,500 trillion yuan ($3,449 trillion) in May, up 18.3 percent year-on-year, with a trade surplus of 281.6 billion yuan.
The first five months saw total foreign trade volume increase 19.8 percent year-on-year to 10.8 trillion yuan, with the trade surplus shrinking 21.1 percent to 994 billion yuan.
