In December this year, the China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) decreased to 50.5, the lowest level of the past three months, down from November's final reading of 50.8, as announced by the HSBC on December 16. In particular, in December the production index declined to 51.8, down from 52.2 in November.
"Despite the decrease, the reading in December was above the 50.0 threshold, indicating that China's GDP growth rate will remain at 7.8 percent in the fourth quarter," said Hongbin Qu, the HSBC's chief economist for China.