China's manufacturing PMI improves to 50.4 in March

China's manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors both rebounded into expansionary territory in March, signaling a notable pickup in economic vitality, official data showed on Tuesday.

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector stood at 50.4 in March, up 1.4 percentage points from the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement.

Huo Lihui, a statistician with the NBS, attributed this rebound to the accelerated resumption of work and production by enterprises after the Spring Festival holiday, alongside a boost in market activity.

The manufacturing sector saw growth in both production and demand. The sub-indices for production and new orders stood at 51.4 and 51.6, respectively, rising by 1.8 and 3 percentage points from the previous month. Notably, industries such as agricultural and sideline food processing, as well as nonferrous metals smelting and rolling, posted readings above 55.

Driven by the recovery in production and demand, the procurement volume index climbed to 50.9, marking an increase of 2.7 percentage points.

Large enterprises maintained steady expansion with a PMI of 51.6, up 0.1 percentage points. Medium-sized and small enterprises saw significant improvements, as their PMI readings rose to 49 and 49.3, respectively, increases of 1.5 and 4.5 percentage points month on month.

Tuesday's data also revealed that the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 50.1 in March, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous month.