China factory sector activity slows in April, PMIs reveal

Chinese factory sector conditions cooled unexpectedly in April, according to the results of two very closely-followed surveys, indicating that the Asian giant's economy "was not yet out of the woods", according to economists.

The private-sector compiled Purchasing Managers' Index from Caixin slipped from a reading of 50.8 for March to 50.2 in April, undershooting economists' forecast for a rise to 51.0.

In parallel, the official manufacturing PMI published by the National Bureau of Statistics dipped from 50.5 to 50.1 (consensus: 50.6).

Commenting on the results of the NBS's survey, Freya Beamish at Pantheon Macroeconomics highlighted the rise seen in a sub-index linked to export orders, explaining that while it remained under the 50.0 point threshhold between expansion and contraction "March could have been the trough".

"Similarly, the imports subindex also continued to rise, though hasn’t made it above 50 yet. The Caixin gauge was slightly discordant on the export front, but has been out of whack with the official version for some months now," Beamish said.

"[...] Overall, these data reveal some green shoots for future months, but underscore that China isn’t quite out of the woods yet."