China's manufacturing PMI regains expansion in October

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.1 percent in October, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous month and bouncing back to the expansion zone, according to data jointly released by China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday.

A reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 percent reflects contraction.

The positive rebound followed five consecutive months of contraction that started in May 2024, indicating recovery in China's manufacturing activity.

To be specific, 12 out of the 21 surveyed sectors were in the expansion zone in October, indicating that a majority of industries maintained growth momentum, with demand picking up.

Data showed that the new order index in October stood at 50 percent, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous month.

An expert attributed the improvement in market demand to the accelerated implementation of existing policies coupled with the continuous roll-out of a package of incremental policies.

"The effect of policies unleashes continuously and would gradually transmit to the real economy. This will produce apparent effect on the improvement in new orders and production indexes," explained Wang Jingwen, director of the Macro Economy Research Center of the Research Institute of China Minsheng Bank.

In terms of production, stronger demand has sped up the manufacturing companies' expansion of production, with the sub-index on production rising to 52 percent in October, up 0.8 percentage points from the previous month.

Cai Jin, vice president of China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, noted that the effect of macroeconomic adjustment policies continued to manifest in October, boosting market vitality and steadily strengthening economic growth momentum.

"Some existing policies were further carried out, while incremental policies unleashed their effect more rapidly. In general, in the overall economic operation, demand rebounded noticeably, and the market was more active, indicating that the upward trend in China's economic recovery got further enhanced," Cai said.

China's manufacturing PMI regains expansion in October

China's manufacturing PMI regains expansion in October

The 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting concluded in east China's Suzhou on Saturday, yielding fruitful results and laying significant groundwork for the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in November.

The trade ministers' meeting focused on "building an open and predictable regional and multilateral economic and trade order" and "fostering new engines of innovative and dynamic trade and investment cooperation."

Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao briefed the media on the meeting's outcomes at a press conference.

Wang said the meeting issued a joint statement titled the Suzhou Statement, and approved the latest edition of the APEC Roadmap for Innovative, Competitive and Resilient Services.

All parties agreed to advance policy innovation and reform in services trade, build an open and predictable investment environment, improve regional trade facilitation and supply chain resilience, strengthen standards coordination, and enhance intellectual property protection, Wang told the media.

He also said that substantial progress was made on a framework document for regional digital trade cooperation and the ministers emphasized promoting inclusive AI development, strengthening AI-related trade, and bridging the digital divide to ensure shared benefits from digital transformation.

The minister noted that the outcomes of the meeting demonstrated strong cooperation willingness, highlighted an innovation-oriented approach, and reflected inclusiveness and shared benefits. "The fact that Asia-Pacific economies can come together, uphold the original aspiration of promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation while supporting economic growth and prosperity, and engage in in-depth discussions on the important issue of 'where multilateral and regional economic and trade cooperation is headed,' fully demonstrates that open regionalism and true multilateralism enjoy broad support, and that mutual success and shared development serve the fundamental interests of all economies," Wang said.

2026 APEC trade ministers' meeting concludes with fruitful results