On Sunday, China released its official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) which, according to the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) and National Bureau of Statistics, showed that manufacturing activity in the world's second-largest economy improved to 53.1 in March, up from 51.0 in February. It was also Beijing's highest in 12 months.

However, the latest good news runs contradictory to the more realistic dangers happening in China right now, including a spiraling factory activity, ever growing bad debts, and a cooling property market. Suffice to say, economists and kibitzers believe it will take more than figures to conceal what is actually happening in China right now.

The contrasting PMI released by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics, the data of which is more based or culled from smaller manufacturing Chinese firms, fell to 48.3 in March from 49.6 in February. This development could possibly be more truthful and reflective of the interior scenario going on in China.

In a report by the BBC, a clothes maker based in Ningbo, located approximately three hours or more away from the south of Shanghai, is worried her business might go to the pits because of falling demand and higher maintenance costs.

"The workers' salaries and the material costs are going up," BBC quoted the Chinese entrepreneur as saying. Consequently, client demand fizzled. "Orders are (now) moving to other countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and India."

The clothes maker's statement could possibly uphold more the PMI readings of HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics which have been actually weaker than official PMI over past several months now. China's factory sector was the very engine that propelled the country to its present success story, enabling it to enjoy an oftentimes 9 per cent or more economic growth, not to mention helped anchored it to withstand the global fiscal crisis of 2009.

The CFLP was ready to admit China's economy still displayed signs of weakness.

"The PMI data suggested China's economic activity has been improving..., but as the country's overall demand is weak, China's economy growth may keep slowing down in the future," Zhang Liqun, CFLP analyst, said in a statement.

Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China of HSBC, in a statement on Sunday, said he expects China will prune the reserve requirement ratio of banks by another 1 percentage point in the first half, at the same time launch additional tax breaks and fiscal spending to reinforce and support the economy upward.

"Once the easing measures filter through, growth is likely to start bottoming out in the second quarter and rebound modestly in the second half of the year," Mr Hongbin said.

In a note, HSBC said the government-backed PMI is weighted more on the sector activity of large enterprises. It is also affected by the seasons, noting the gauge has been observed to jump an average of 3.2 points each March from 2005 to 2011 as production reverted to normalcy after a Lunar New Year holiday.