China's factory activity contracted at the fastest pace in 16 months in April, a factory survey showed on Wednesday, keeping alive calls for further stimulus as Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" package of tariffs snapped two months of recovery.

Monthly surveys of Chinese factory managers shows export orders slowed in April as higher tariffs on U.S. imports began to kick in

The data covers a period in which a trade war between the US and China escalated dramatically, with tariffs now well over 100 per cent in both directions. China’s official PMI manufacturing gauge had expanded in February and March.