China logistics activity picks up as economy firms

BEIJING - China's logistics activity picked up in June as the economy showed more signs of stabilizing, latest official data showed on Monday.

The logistics performance index (LPI) for June came in at 56.7 percent, up 1.5 percentage points from a month earlier, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).

A reading above 50 percent indicates expansion from the previous month, while a reading below indicates contraction.

In breakdown, the index for new orders stood at 55.3 percent, recovering 1.6 percentage points from that in May.

He Hui, deputy director of the China Logistics Information Center, said the improving indices indicated a firming trend in the broader economy.

Earlier statistics showed growth in China's manufacturing sector accelerated to a six-month high in June, registering a strong end to the second quarter and an encouraging sign that the economy is further stabilizing.

China's economic growth slipped to 7.4 percent in the January-March period, the lowest quarterly expansion since the third quarter of 2012. China is due to release GDP data for the second quarter next week.

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