BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s manufacturing shrank in July, the government said Monday, blaming the deterioration on rainstorms that wreaked havoc across large swathes of the country. It was the first time since February the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed contraction, and according to a Bloomberg News survey it missed economists’ expectations it would flatline. The official PMI came in at 49.9 for July, down from 50.0 the month before and underlining problems in […]