According to the data issued by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP), in January this year the official Chinese purchasing managers' index (PMI) reached 50.5 points, up slightly by 0.2 percentage points compared to December 2011.
In January, the CFLP's sub-index for new orders came to 50.4 points, rising by 0.6 percentage points from the previous month, but was still down 4.8 percentage points year on year. Meanwhile, the industrial production index in January stood at 53.6 points, indicating a minor increase of 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.
The stronger-than-expected PMI in January is expected to ease fears of an increasing slowdown in the Chinese economy.