China's manufacturing PMI jumped to 51 in August

It broke the record in May 2012.

According to BBVA Research, China's official NBS manufacturing PMI for August, released yesterday, rose to 51.0 (consensus: 50.6; BBVA: 50.5) its highest level since May 2012.

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The outturn suggests that manufacturing activity is continuing to improve after a set of robust indicators for July released last month.

The improvement was broad-based, as the production sub-index rose to 51.0 from 50.3 in July and new orders jumped to 52.4 from 50.6. On the external front, new exports rose to 50.2 from 49.0, as import orders rose to 50.0 from 48.4.

Separately, the private HSBC manufacturing PMI, covering smaller and export-oriented firms, was also released today, at 50.1, bringing both PMI indicators back to above the 50-expansion threshold (and the first time the HSBC PMI has risen to above 50 since May).

The PMI outturns bode well for Q3 GDP, and are well in line with our full-year projection of 7.6% GDP growth in 2013. Separately, the NBS today revised down China’s 2012 GDP growth to 7.7% from a preliminary reading of 7.8%.