On May 2, HSBC Holdings plc has announced that the HSBC
China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 49.3 in April, compared with 48.3 in March, indicating a slowdown for the sixth consecutive month though by a smaller margin.
April saw a further decline in
manufacturing output, but the decline was slighter as compared to the previous month. Decreased new orders and worsened market conditions attributed to the fall in output. In April, the volume of new orders declined slightly, while the volume of export orders rebounded a little.
HSBC economists said they expect the Chinese economy to bottom out in the second quarter. "With easing measures starting to work and further measures on the way,
China's growth looks set to recover to over 8.5 percent in the second half," the HSBC economists said in their note.