China's Caixin manufacturing PMI down on weak demand

China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly fell in April on weak demand, adding to signs of an uneven economic recovery. The China Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.5 last month from 50 in March, marking the first contraction in factory output since January, Caixin and S&P Global said on Thursday. The index includes mostly small and export-oriented enterprises, compared with the official PMI, which unexpectedly fell to 49.2 in April. “The PMI data suggests that China’s economic recovery has slowed significantly since the start of the year, when COVID-19 cases peaked. It remains to be seen whether the recovery can be sustained after pent-up demand is met,” Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group, said in a statement accompanying the data.