China's factory activity shows marginal improvement in June

China's factory activity gauge improved slightly in June, but was still below the 50-point mark that separates contraction from expansion, official data showed on Monday.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that China's official purchasing managers index for the manufacturing sector came in at 49.7 in June, up from 49.5 in May.

Zhao Qinghe, an NBS statistician, said the improvement was mainly supported by the recovery in both supply and demand, with improvement in gauges for production and new orders.

The sub-index for production was 51 in June versus 50.7 in May, while the gauge for new orders came in at 50.2 in June, up from 49.8 in May, the NBS reported.

Notably, the PMIs for equipment manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing and consumer products sectors came in at 51.4, 50.9 and 50.4 in June, respectively, remained in expansion for a second consecutive month.

China's non-manufacturing PMI, which includes subindexes for service sector activity and construction, came in at 50.5 in June, up from 50.3 in May. However, the services PMI dipped slightly to 50.1 in June from 50.2 in May.

The country's official composite PMI, which encompasses both manufacturing and non-manufacturing activities, rose from 50.4 in May to 50.7 in June, indicating continued modest expansion in overall business activity.