HSBC's China PMI slips to 48.9, its lowest in a year

Beijing

CHINA'S factories suffered their fastest drop in activity in a year in April as new orders shrank, a private business survey showed on Monday, hardening the case for fresh stimulus measures to halt a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

The latest indication of deepening factory woes raises the risk that second-quarter economic growth may dip below 7 per cent for the first time since the depths of the global crisis, adding to official fears of job losses and local-level debt defaults.