China's manufacturing PMI reaches expansion zone for two straight months

China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) remained in the expansion zone for the second consecutive month in November, signaling continued stability and growth of the sector, according to data jointly released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Saturday.

The manufacturing PMI came in at 50.3 in November, up 0.2 percentage points from October.

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

The manufacturing PMI has edged up for three consecutive months and remained in the expansion range for two consecutive months.

"Since the introduction of a wealth of incremental policies in late September, we have clearly observed a comprehensive recovery in the PMI of October and the PMI continued to rebound across the board in November. This is a very encouraging change. In terms of managing expectations and restoring confidence, it can be said that quite good results have been achieved," said Zhang Yansheng, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research.

In November, both the existing and incremental policies continued to take effect, driving faster growth in market supply and demand.

The new orders index reached 50.8 percent, marking its third consecutive month of month-on-month growth, reflecting a sustained improvement in market demand, with a trend of accelerating recovery.

Enterprises' willingness to produce also ramped up, with the production index remaining in the expansion zone for three consecutive months, reflecting a steady and accelerating growth in manufacturing activities since September.

"Both the production index and the new orders index have risen, with the new orders index reaching the expansion zone for the first time since May of this year, indicating a more dynamic manufacturing market," said Huo Lihui, head of the Business Climate Survey Division of the Service Survey Center under the NBS.

In addition, business confidence becomes stronger, with the expectations index of production and business activities rising to 54.7 percent in November, a 0.7-percentage-point uptick from October and the second consecutive monthly rise.

China's manufacturing PMI reaches expansion zone for two straight months

Chinese spacecraft developers have accelerated development of the spacecraft for the country's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceflight mission by five months — moving its launch from the original schedule in October to late May — achieving greater efficiency without compromising safety or reliability.

According to He Yu, general commander of China's manned spacecraft project of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the accelerated development began shortly after the emergency launch readiness of the Shenzhou-22 last November.

"We have accelerated the development of the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft. It was originally planned for launch in late October, but has now been moved up to late May. In the six months since last November, we have gained five months of progress. This means the pace of work has been quickened by nearly one time," He said.

He further explained that a series of measures to ensure mission success have been adopted alongside the accelerated development, adding multiple layers of assurance.

"We have continued the proven measures that have ensured success in the past, which are fundamentally based on a sound product assurance system and strict process control. We have maintained high-quality assembly operations, continued to implement efficient and high-quality automated testing procedures, adopted a specialized flight control model, and maintained a full-process quality confirmation system to ensure reliability and safety of the product," He said.

The Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to be launched at 23:08 Beijing time (15:08 GMT) on Sunday from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China.

Chinese astronauts Zhu Yangzhu, Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying will carry out the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceflight mission, and Zhu will be the commander, the China Manned Space Agency announced at a press conference on Saturday.

Chinese engineers move Shenzhou-23 manned spacecraft mission forward by 5 months while ensuring safety