China manufacturing measure ticks up in June

China's manufacturing activity accelerated in June, helped by stronger foreign demand for Chinese goods, a survey released Friday showed.

The monthly purchasing managers' index issued by the Chinese statistics bureau and an industry group rose to 51.7 from May's 51.2 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 show activity expanding.

The Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said it was the 11th straight month of improvement.

"Today's official PMI readings suggests that growth may have held up reasonably well this month," said Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics in a report.

A measure of export activity rose 1.3 points to 52.

Chinese economic growth rose slightly in the latest quarter, helped by higher government spending. But forecasters expect activity to weaken as that stimulus effect fades and regulators clamp down on bank lending to slow a rise in debt.

"We suspect that the current resilience of growth will prove temporary," said Evans-Pritchard. "With tight monetary conditions weighing on credit growth, it will be difficult to avoid a renewed slowdown in growth later this year."

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China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing: www.chinawuliu.com.cn