China's growth declines as factory activity contracts

China's factory activity contracted for a third consecutive month in June, with weakening across other sectors sending the yuan to a seven-month low. The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) marginally rose to 49.0 from 48.8 in May, remaining below the expansion-contraction threshold of 50. Additionally, the non-manufacturing PMI fell, indicating a slowdown in service sector and construction activities. The sluggish economic performance has put pressure on authorities to bolster growth as domestic and overseas demand wanes. Amid these conditions, the yuan depreciated 197 basis points to 7.2620 per US dollar, its lowest since November 2022. This comes as China's central bank reportedly surveys foreign banks about their dollar deposit interest rates, in a bid to curb the yuan's depreciation.