China Factory Activity Slump Continues Despite Tariff Relief (2)

China’s factory activity remained stuck in contraction in August, as a government crackdown on price wars holds back production and offsets the boost for manufacturers of the US’ extended trade truce.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index was 49.4, versus 49.3 in July, the National Bureau of Statistics said Sunday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 49.5. A reading below 50 indicates contraction.

The non-manufacturing measure of activity in construction and services rose to 50.3 from 50.1 last month, the statistics office said. The forecast was 50.2.

The months-long slump for factories has fed into a slowdown ...