China’s factory activity contracts for third month

China's factory activity contracted for the third consecutive month in July, government data showed.The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector, a gauge of activity of some 3,000 big and state-owned firms across the country, stood at 49.4, down from June's 49.5 on a 100-point scale, the National Bureau of Statistics.A PMI reading above 50 percent indicates growth from the previous month, while a reading below 50 represents contraction. The index, a closely watched barometer of the health of the world's second-biggest economy, has been in contractionary territory since May.Bureau senior statistician Zhao Qinghe explained that the decline was due to July being the traditional offseason for production, the state-run China Daily reported. Other contributing factors included insufficient demand and extreme weather in certain regions, such as heatwaves and floods, according to Zhao.Meanwhile, the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector at 50.2 in July, down from 50.5 in June.Sou rce: Kuwait News Agency