In April this year, the China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) increased to 48.3, up from March's final reading of 48.0, as announced by the HSBC on April 23. Since January this year, HSBC PMI has been below 50 for consecutive four months.
Hongbin Qu, the HSBC's chief economist for China, said that the HSBC flash manufacturing PMI reading for April suggests that China's economic growth momentum has still continued to move down, while domestic demand indicates some improvement.
"We suggest Beijing to launch more policy measures to stabilize economic growth," the HSBC economist stated, adding, "Though HSBC PMI runs at low level, it shows a stabilizing movement at bottom, with new order index seeing smaller decrease, which indicates domestic demand would likely witness improvement in peak season."