Trade war bites into China's manufacturing activity

China's factory activity shrank in April, official data showed on Wednesday, with Beijing blaming a "sharp shift" in the global economy as it fights a mounting trade war with the United States.

Punishing US tariffs that have reached 145% on many Chinese products came into force in April, while Beijing has responded with fresh 125 % duties on imports from the United States.

And the impact of the measures began to show through in April, with the Purchasing Managers' Index-a key measure of industrial output- falling to 49 in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), below the 50-point mark that separates growth and contraction.

The reading for April was down from March's 50.5, which was the highest in 12 months

The non-manufacturing PMI, which measures activity in the services sector, came in at 50.4, down from 50.8 in March.

Economists have warned that the disruption in trade between the tightly integrated US and Chinese economies could threaten businesses, increase prices for consumers and cause a global recession.

Weak Housing Sales
China's residential property sales stayed weak in April, underscoring the need for authorities to boost efforts to revive housing demand and consumption. The value of new-home sales from the nation's 100 largest developers fell 8.7% to Yuan 284.7 billion ($39.2 billion) from a year earlier, according to preliminary data from the China Real Estate Information Corp. That follows an 11.4% decline in March. April's sales were down 10.4% from the previous month.