Chinese manufacturing growth slower than expected He said he wasn't surprised that the latest numbers came in lower than expected, because the preliminary HSBC number seemed a little stronger than other economic data released during the month suggested. "If you looked at industrial production and retail sales, they were showing some recovery but it wasn't a big jump like 51.2 would suggest," Mr Chan said. Recent data, including strong exports and industrial output, has pointed to renewed strength in the economy. China's communist leaders have been trying to reverse a slowdown in which growth hit a two-decade low of 7.5pc in the latest quarter, but have held back on implementing broad-based measures. Instead, China has used targeted measures such as increased spending on railway construction and tax cuts for small businesses to encourage self-sustaining growth and domestic spending rather than trade and investment. Mr Qu expects the government to maintain small-scale efforts to support growth. The survey found that factory output grew for a second month, though at a marginal pace. New orders were flat, but new business from overseas customers grew for the first time in six months, with respondents indicating stronger demand from Europe and the United States. HSBC's report is based on responses from 420 purchasing executives. An official purchasing managers' index is due out on Tuesday.