China's manufacturing expands 54 per cent in August

China's manufacturing growth picked up to its the fastest in 16 months, in August 2009, aided by the country's massive stimulus spending and record lending, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today.

The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) bought out by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) rose to a 16-month high as China's manufacturing sector stood at 54 per cent in August from 53.2 in July. (See: China's June - PMI of manufacturing sector improves to 53.2 per cent)

It was a 0.7 percentage points jump from July, while the July index had risen by 0.1 percentage points from 53.1 in May.

In the ninth monthly increase since December, the PMI rose 2.7 percentage points to 62.6 per cent in August.

The output index was 57.9 per cent, up 0.6 percentage points from last month. The new order index was 56.3 per cent in August, up 0.8 per cent from July.

The new export order index remained the same as the previous month at 52.1 per cent, while the import index rose to 51.3 per cent, up 2.4 percentage points from July.