© Reuters. A employee sporting a face masks works on a manufacturing line manufacturing bicycle metal rim at a manufacturing unit, because the nation is hit by the novel coronavirus outbreak, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China March 2, 2020. China Each day by way of REUTERS/File Photograph
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BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s manufacturing exercise contracted for the third consecutive month in December, an official manufacturing unit survey confirmed on Sunday, as factories struggled with weak demand, clouding the outlook for the nation’s financial restoration.
The official buying managers’ index (PMI) fell to 49.0 in December from 49.4 the earlier month, beneath the 50-mark separating development from contraction and weaker than a median forecast of 49.5 in a Reuters ballot.
The federal government has in current months unveiled a raft of measures to shore up China’s feeble post-pandemic financial restoration, which is being held again by a property droop, native authorities debt dangers and sluggish world development.