Shanghai | The damage to China's economy from the coronavirus outbreak will be worse than expected in the first quarter, after data at the weekend revealed the sharpest monthly decline in factory activity on record.

China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a key measure of manufacturing activity, plunged to 35.7 in February from 50 in January, according to data released by China's statistics bureau on Saturday. The previous record low was 38.8 in November 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis.