China's manufacturing expanded in July, a state-sanctioned index showed Saturday, as Beijing's massive stimulus spending helped boost growth in the world's third-largest economy. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said its purchasing managers index rose 0.1 points from June to 53.3 on a 100-point scale where numbers above 50 show activity expanding. It was the fifth month in a row that the index has expanded. The National Bureau of Statistics compiles the index using data collected from purchasing and supply managers at more than 700 firms. Stimulus spending and an investment boom financed by a surge in lending by Chinese state banks helped to boost second-quarter economic growth to 7.9 percent from a year earlier, up from 6.1 percent the previous quarter. But Beijing has cautioned that a full-fledged recovery is not firmly established. Dong Tao, an economist at Credit Suisse, said in a research note that the figures do not have any significant impact on policy but show that China's economy is improving steadily.
