Factories doing better; contraction remains

China's manufacturing activity continued to contract in June, but the persistent weakness showed a marginal improvement over May, a survey released on Tuesday showed.

The HSBC flash manufacturing purchasing managers index for June stood at 49.6, a slight improvement on the 49.2 in May but still below the 50-point mark that distinguishes expansion from contraction.

Annabel Fiddes, an economist at global financial information provider Markit, said the latest PMI survey provided a mixed bag of data for June.