Economists: China shows signs of recovery

BEIJING: A key indicator of China’s manufacturing improved in January, a business group said yesterday, fuelling hopes an economic decline might be bottoming out.

The national purchasing managers index rose to 45.3 in January on a 100-point scale where numbers below 50 indicate a contraction, up from December’s 41.2, the government-sanctioned China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said.

The latest PMI “undoubtedly points to a recovery in China,” Merrill Lynch economists Ting Lu and T.J. Bond said. in a report.

They said they expect a rebound as early as the second quarter. — AP