One of China’s most important gauges of manufacturing activity has contracted for the first time since the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, bolstering expectations that Beijing will step up measures to support the economy.

The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, an independent survey of factory activity, came in at 49.2 in August, dropping below the 50-mark that separates monthly expansion from contraction for the first time since April 2020.

The data was released a day after official PMI manufacturing data stopped just short of contraction but at 50.1, posted its weakest reading since February last year. Its measure of the services sector plunged into negative territory as a recent outbreak of Covid-19 weighed on activity.