The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) and the non-manufacturing PMI in February show positive economic signs. As production and operating activities return to normal after Spring Festival, economic trends will stabilize.

New orders stood at 50.4 per cent in February , up 0.2 percentage points from January and representing a five month high, according to the monthly report. This phenomenon results from the impact of the holiday period and the effects of related policies targeting stable economic growth. New orders for small enterprises have shown a significant turnaround, rising more than 3 percentage points. Small enterprises are closely related to market demand, therefore, good performance in this sector is indicative of a healthy economic trend.

Business expectations are improving. China has intensified the emphasis on policies to stabilize economic growth in order to cope with the economic downturn from the fourth quarter of last year. Business is regaining confidence in the economy. The company production and operation activities expectation index rose to 54 per cent in February, increasing by 6.6 percentage points.

Non-manufacturing PMI presented a consistent increase due to demand during the Spring Festival – these figures include service industries, catering, and retailing.

According to statistics supervised by Ministry of Commerce, the total national revenues of the retailing and catering industries were 678 billion yuan during Spring Festival, 11 per cent higher than the same period in 2014. Sales of traditional New Year goods, clothes, jewelry and digital devices experienced rapid growth, as did the tourism industry.

Although the two PMIs are showing an encouraging trend, future economic operations will need continual monitoring. In the first two months of 2015, both PMIs were below 50 per cent - still a periodic low point. Macro-control and the appropriate policies are still required.