The preliminary purchasing managers index (PMI) for Chinese manufacturing issued by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) has declined to 48.1 points for June, the lowest level of the past seven months. This compares to a final reading of 48.4 points in May.
Qu Hongbin, chief economist with HSBC, stated that in June Chinese domestic manufacturing activities have continued to slow down, though the pace of the slowdown seems to be slowing