 "A worker wearing a face mask works on a production line manufacturing bicycle steel rim at a factory. Photo: Reuters")
China's factory activity expanded at the slowest pace in seven months at the start of 2021, weighed down by falling export orders amid a surging global pandemic and rising costs, a business survey showed on Monday.
The slowdown in the manufacturing sector underscores the fragility of the ongoing economic recovery in China, as Beijing grapples with a resurgence of local Covid-19 cases in northern China and navigates rising tensions with Washington and its allies.
The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropped to 51.5 last month, the
