China's factory activity shrinks for 5th month

A worker checks on a cargo train wheel at the GEMAC Engineering Machinery, a China-based company, during a media-organized tour in Xiangyang in central China's Hubei Province, May 10, 2023. [AP Photo]

China's manufacturing activity contracted for a fifth straight month in August, but at a slower-than-expected pace, an official factory survey showed on Thursday, maintaining pressure on Beijing to step up policy support for the stuttering economy.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 49.7 from 49.3 in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, staying below the 50-point level demarcating contraction from expansion. The reading was above a forecast of 49.4.