According to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP), in December 2011 China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for its manufacturing industry increased to 50.3 percent, up 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous month. The rise in the index was mainly due to the release of demand in the pre-holiday period, as indicated by analysts. A PMI reading of 50 percent demarcates expansion from contraction.
The CFLP's PMI is based on a survey of purchasing managers in more than 820 companies in 20 industries.
In December, the CFLP's sub-index for new orders in the domestic manufacturing industry was at 49.8 percent, rising by 2.0 percentage points month on month.
Meanwhile, the final HSBC purchasing managers index (PMI) for the Chinese manufacturing industry rose to 48.7 in December, compared with 47.7 in November. Accordingly, China's manufacturing sector output continued to decline by a small margin in December, negatively affected by the reduced number of new businesses.