BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s factory activity shrank for a seventh month in October, an official survey showed on Friday, suggesting the need for more stimulus to boost domestic demand, with efforts to ship goods abroad merely exporting price wars.

The official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 49.0 in October from 49.8 in September, a six-month low, the National Bureau of Statistics’ survey showed on Friday. It remained below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction, and missed a median forecast of 49.6 in a Reuters poll.

The non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which includes services and construction, rose to 50.1 from 50.0 in September.

The prolonged slump comes as manufacturers struggle to mount a sustained recovery in the years since the COVID pandemic an

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