Surveys give mixed China manufacturing picture
Surveys show mixed picture for China manufacturing in July
HONG KONG (AP) -- New figures on Chinese manufacturing suggest the world's No. 2 economy might still be slowing.
An official survey showed a slight improvement in July while another index fell to its lowest in nearly a year.
The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Thursday its manufacturing index strengthened to 50.3 from June's 50.1.
The index uses a 100-point scale and numbers below 50 indicate a contraction.
Meanwhile, a private survey found that activity fell to the lowest in 11 months.
HSBC's purchasing managers' index fell to 47.7 last month from 48.2 in June. The reading confirmed a preliminary version released last month.
Analysts say the federation's survey mostly covers big state-owned enterprises while the HSBC survey is more geared to small and medium private companies.
