Explainer | From jobs to the yuan and beyond: 4 things to look out for in China’s economy in June

China has been enduring a mixed recovery, and May’s data that will be released in June will give further insight into the state of the world’s second-largest economy

The economic data has played a part in the yuan weakening against the US dollar, though it's not all bad news, with relations improving in the Middle East and Australia

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Beijing has pledged to shore up trade to support the overall economic recovery, but China’s exports have struggled due to weak global demand. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 11:00pm, 1 Jun 2023Updated: 11:53pm, 1 Jun 2023

May saw the first commercial flight of China’s C919 narrow-body passenger jet, record-high youth unemployment, meetings between Chinese and Australia trade ministers, and Hainan preparing for its first durian harvest this year.

With the month behind us, what’s in store for China’s economy in June?

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1. Is China’s economic growth heating up or losing momentum?

Purchasing managers’ indices offer the first glimpse of the state of China’s economy, and the official gauge for May released at the end of last month pointed to what analysts called a “downward spiral” for the manufacturing sector.

The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 48.8 in May, down from 49.2 in April, reaching the lowest level since dropping to 47 in December.

Analysts pointed to weak demand as “the culprit” for factory activity contracting further in May, and after the same factor dragged down China’s trade figures in April, the release of May’s trade data in mid-June could raise additional concerns.

Beijing has pledged to shore up trade to support the overall economic recovery, and while China’s exports rose by 8.5 per cent in April compared with a year earlier, they grew at a slower pace.