By Ellen Zhang and Joe Cash
BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s manufacturing activity in February shrank for a fifth straight month, an official survey showed on Friday, raising pressure on Beijing to roll out more stimulus measures as the parliament prepares for a key annual meeting next week.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), compiled by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), fell to 49.1 in February from 49.2 in January with a sizeable drop in the output component. It was below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction and in line with a median forecast of 49.1 in a Reuters poll.
Seasonal factors contributed to some of the weakness as the Lunar New Year (LNY) fell on Feb. 10 this year and saw factories shut as workers returned home for the holiday.
However, a survey by the Caixin/S&P Global released just after the official PMI showed manufacturing activity expanded steadily as both production and new orders…
