China Caxin PMI beats forecasts, rises at fastest pace since January 2013

China's more closely watched Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) beat expectations in December to rise at its fastest rate since January 2013. Caixin/Markit Manufacturing PMI survey which tends to focus more on small and mid-sized Chinese firms came in at 51.9 in December, up from November's reading of 50.9 and widely beating expectations at

Today's data compared with China's official manufacturing PMI, released Sunday, coming in at 51.4, down slightly from November's 51.7. The official figures tend to focus on larger companies. The sub-indices for output and new orders both hit multi-year highs while those for input costs and output charges continued to rise rapidly, underlining sustained inflationary pressure.

Caxin data showed that the new export orders index was at the neutral 50.0 level, with 90 percent of the survey's respondents saying there was no change in new business from overseas. Companies raised their purchasing activity at a quicker rate than in November, which led to a renewed increase in stocks of inputs.

However, employment continued to decline, as companies made efforts to reduce their costs. Nonetheless, input price inflation picked up to its sharpest since early 2011 amid reports of higher raw material costs, which prompted firms to raise their selling prices at a marked rate.

"A further rise in production at Chinese manufacturers supported the higher PMI reading in December. Notably, the rate of output growth accelerated to a 71-month high, with a number of panelists commenting on stronger underlying demand and new client wins," the Caixin data statement said.