A closely watched survey on manufacturing in China has edged into positive territory after months of contraction, the government statistics agency said Thursday. The Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to 50.1. A reading above 50 indicates an improvement over the previous month. It was the first improvement after five straight months of decline. “The 50.1 level is the smallest possible expansion for the PMI but nonetheless bucks expectations for continued contraction, and is a positive sign that the small bounce back of industrial production that we saw in September could continue,” Lynn Song of I…