Factory activity in China recovered in June, with the official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) coming in at 50.3 from a neutral print recorded the previous month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Tuesday.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a figure below signals a contraction.
The latest print beat the consensus forecast of 50.2 tracked by Investing.com, and compared with the neutral reading of 50 recorded in the previous month.
By enterprise size, the PMI for large-sized enterprises fell to 50.7, down from 51.1 May, while the indices for medium-sized enterprises rebounded to 50.5 from 48.6, and small-sized enterprises edged down to 48.2 from 48.5.
Among the main sub-indices, the new orders index climbed to 51.2 from 49.9, the raw materials inventory index fell to 48.4 from 48.6, the employment index edged up to 48.5 from 48.6, while the supplier delivery time index came in at 49.9, up from 49.2 in May.