Chinese manufacturing weakens as anti-virus controls tighten

A woman rides on a bicycle past a poster depicting manufacturing industries (AP)

China’s manufacturing activity fell to a five-month low in March after most of Shanghai and two other industrial centres were shut down to fight coronavirus outbreaks, figures show.

The monthly purchasing managers’ index of the Chinese statistics agency and an industry group, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, fell to 49.5 from February’s 50.2 on a 100-point scale.