As a result of China’s severe COVID-19 lockdowns, industrial activity in Asia came to a halt in June. This was compounded by the solid economic downturn concerns in Europe, and the United States, which fueled worries of a worldwide recession.

Several surveys were conducted on Friday, showing that factory activity in China had a solid rebound in June. On the other hand, a slowdown in Japan and South Korea and a contraction in Taiwan highlighted the strain from supply disruptions, rising costs, and persistent material shortages.

An independent poll revealed that the removal of COVID lockdowns in June had companies scrambling to meet robust demand, which resulted in the industrial activity in China expanding at its quickest pace in the last 13 months.

After suffering from significant setbacks, automakers and other industries in Asia may be able to restart operations if China lifts some of the restrictions that have been put in place to lock down the country’s supply chain.

However, other experts foresee new challenges, such as escalating market concerns that aggressive interest rate increases by the United States to combat skyrocketing inflation may plunge the nation into recession and hurt total global demand.

In the last few months, policy tightening across many other nations in Asia, conjunction with skyrocketing consumer price pressures has fuelled worries of a dramatic collapse in the global economy and unsettled financial markets.

“After a time of some difficulty, there is reason to believe that China’s economy will begin to perk up again. However, there is a possibility that the economies of the United States and Europe may slow down, “Yoshiki Shinke, the head economist of the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute in Japan, made this statement. “Even though there is a great deal of uncertainty regarding the prognosis for the global economy, it will be a tug-of-war between the two.”

The final au Jibun Bank Japan Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipped to 52.7 in June from 53.3 in the previous month, staying above the 50-mark separating contraction from expansion.

The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index for South Korea dropped to 51.3 in June from 51.8 in May, continuing its downward trend for a second consecutive month due to the pressure caused by supply shortages and a truckers’ strike in June.

Separate data showed that South Korean exports, seen as a proxy for global trade because the nation’s manufacturers are positioned in many parts of the world supply chain, grew at their slowest pace in June in the past 19 months. This marked the slowest growth rate for South Korean exports in 19 months.

On the positive side, the Caixin/Markit manufacturing PMI for China increased to 51.7 in June, up from 48.1 the previous month; this is the first improvement in the index in the last four months. That was far more than the increase to 50.1 that experts had anticipated.

The official statistics showed that the country’s industrial and service sectors broke a three-month activity drop in June. The Caixin poll, which concentrated on more export-oriented and small enterprises in coastal areas, followed government data.

The S&P global PMI for Taiwan decreased to 49.8 in June from 50.0 in the previous month, while the index for Vietnam decreased to 54.0 in June from 54.7 in the month before that.

Because of the lockdowns in China, regional and worldwide logistics and supply networks have become tangled, and Japan and South Korea have also reported significant drops in production.

Asia’s industrial production stagnated in June due to China’s severe COVID-19 lockdowns, while strong economic downturn threats in Europe and the U.S. fueled worries of a worldwide recession. While dangers such as sluggish consumer spending and the worry of a new wave of infections still exist, the Chinese economy has begun to design a recovery route out of the supply shocks generated by severe lockdowns. This is a positive sign for the country’s economic outlook.