In January this year, the China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) increased to 51.9, indicating a 24-month high and comparing to the final value of 51.5 in December 2012, as announced by the HSBC.
The production index for the manufacturing sector in China increased to 52.2 in January from 51.0 in December 2012, reaching the highest level of the past 22 months.
Commenting on the new data, Hongbin Qu, chief economist for China at HSBC, stated, “Due to sustainable growth of new businesses, China’s manufacturing sector is expanding recruitment and speeding up production. Despite no significant improvement being observed from external demand up to now, inventory replenishment driven by domestic demand will stimulate a recovery in the Chinese economy in the near future.”
