The easing of restrictions related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to a stronger rise in Chinese manufacturing output in May, with the rate of expansion the quickest for over nine years. However, demand conditions remained subdued, largely due to a notable fall in export orders. As a result, firms continued to trim their staff numbers and raised their buying activity only slightly. A lack of new work also led to the first reduction in backlogs of orders since February 2016. Encouragingly, supplier performance was broadly stable in May after travel restrictions and low supply levels hindered ... (full story)