China’s national statistics agency reported Sunday that a key gauge of industrial activity, the purchasing managers’ index, rose again in June to 49.5. That’s the same figure as in May and marks the second consecutive month in which the score has been below 50. Anything above 50 indicates growth, anything below it indicates contraction.
Last year, China suffered a housing crisis, low consumer confidence and a weakened global economy. As a result, activity in the manufacturing industry declined for a long time. At the beginning of this year the outlook seemed to tilt for a moment, but then the indicator fell again.
China is aiming for 5 percent economic growth this year. According to some economists, this could be too ambitious. Recent trade tensions appear to have exacerbated the problems. The United States and the European Union, two of China’s largest export markets, have expressed concern about a rise in cheap Chinese exports. According to them, this is unfairly promoted by huge subsidies from Beijing. For this reason, both have threatened to impose tariffs on the import of electric cars, among other things, from the country.