China's manufacturing PMI stands at 49.2 in November

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector stood at 49.2 in November, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous month, official data showed Sunday.

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

Both production and demand sides saw improvement. The sub-index for production stood at 50.0, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous month. On the demand side, the sub-index for new orders came in at 49.2, up 0.4 percentage points, according to the figures from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the Service Survey Center of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

"The manufacturing PMI in November showed a slight rebound, with business conditions improving. Both the production and demand sides saw improvement, and the sub-indices for production and new orders rose, with that for production reaching the critical threshold," said Huo Lihui, director of the business climate survey division under the service survey center of NBS.

The PMI for small enterprises saw a significant rebound, standing at 49.1 -- up 2 percentage points from the previous month to reach a six-month high. The PMI for large enterprises came in at 49.3, a drop of 0.6 percentage points, while the reading for medium-sized enterprises stood at 48.9, up 0.2 percentage points.

"Industry-wise, the production and new order indices for sectors such as agricultural food processing, and non-ferrous metal smelting and rolling were located in the expansionary zone, indicating active production and demand," Huo said.

High-tech manufacturing continued to expand, with its PMI standing at 50.1 -- remaining above the critical point for 10 consecutive months, according to the NBS.

In addition, the finished goods inventory sub-index came in at 47.3 in November, down 0.8 percentage points from October, suggesting smooth sales activities at Chinese companies.

Market expectations remained stable with a slight upward trend. The sub-index for production and operation activity expectation stood at 53.1, up 0.3 percentage points from October, indicating that manufacturing enterprises have grown more confident in recent market developments.

China's manufacturing PMI stands at 49.2 in November

China's manufacturing PMI stands at 49.2 in November

China's manufacturing PMI stands at 49.2 in November

China's domestically developed T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber holds broad application prospects in strategic emerging industries, according to its developer.

The country on Wednesday unveiled SYT80, a domestically developed T1200-grade ultra-high-strength carbon fiber, marking a major breakthrough in the China's high-performance carbon fiber technology.

This new material has achieved a hundred-tonne-level annual production capacity, making China the first nation to mass-produce this caliber of fiber, according to its developer, China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd. (CNBM).

Featuring lightweight and high-strength properties, the fiber's diameter is less than one-tenth that of a human hair, and yet its tensile strength is 10 times that of ordinary steel and its density is only one-quarter of steel's.

"Compared with the previous-generation T1100, T1200 has seen its tensile strength increase by more than 14 percent. With its ultimate lightweight and high-strength characteristics, T1200 can achieve weight reduction of over 10 percent for equipment in related fields. It holds broad application prospects in strategic emerging industries such as commercial aerospace, low-altitude economy, and humanoid robots," said Chen Qiufei, head of T1200 ultra-high-strength carbon fiber research and development at Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Company, a subsidiary of China National Building Material Group.

The new material also possesses many other outstanding properties.

As the fiber undergoes carbonization at nearly 2,000 degrees Celsius during production, its chemical properties remain stable and its corrosion resistance is excellent.

This fiber material also features strong fire and flame retardant properties, offering good safety performance.

The development of this fiber material demonstrates China's fully independent and controllable capabilities across the entire industrial chain of high-performance carbon fiber, spanning technologies and equipment as well as the transition from laboratory research to mass production, said Zhou Yuxian, chairman of CNBM.

China's high-strength carbon fiber shows strong potential in strategic emerging industries