China's manufacturing improves in the first quarter. The seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers Index rose to 51.1 in March, from 50.9 points in February.
The improvement was supported by greater production requests, including from abroad. Meanwhile, production costs fell for the first time in eight months, allowing Chinese manufacturers to further lower prices in a bid to boost sales. Reproduction of this article is permitted under the terms of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the EU Convention on Trade and Development (ETD).