The official PMIs from China were published earlier - some encouragement: in the 'services' result

The official survey favours the larger SOEs> There are doubts around the official survey, political reasons and what have you ...

And so to this private survey, not as rosy.

From the report: Key findings

  • Output continues to recover, albeit at a mild pace...
  • ...but total new work declines again as export sales plummet
  • Input costs and output charges both fall

Commentary (bolding is mine):

China's economic recovery was hindered by shrinking foreign demand, despite the domestic epidemic being largely contained.

1. While manufacturing output expanded at a faster clip, export orders plunged amid sluggish demand. The output subindex rose further into expansionary territory, the best performing among the five PMI subindexes and the only one above 50, reflecting further resumption of work. The gauge for new export orders dropped back sharply to a level lower than that in February, pointing to a sharp contraction in foreign demand amid the coronavirus pandemic. The subindex for total new orders worsened slightly from a relatively low level the previous month, amid shrinking overseas demand compounded by limited recovery in domestic consumption.

2. Amid rapid production recovery and falling demand, inventories of finished goods increased relatively fast, and growth in work backlogs continued to slow. The subindexes for stocks of purchased items and suppliers' delivery times continued to recover despite staying in negative territory, reflecting the fact that manufacturers were well prepared for production.

3. Prices of industrial products continued to fall. Amid a plunge in global oil prices, input costs dropped markedly. The gauges for input costs and output prices had the same reading in April. Meanwhile, downward pressure on the prices of raw materials including glass and steel grew amid large inventories and limited demand recovery.

4. Both the gauges for business confidence and employment dropped. Unlike in February and March, manufacturers' confidence was not high in April as the coronavirus's hard hit on external demand forced them to reassess the pandemic's impact: the economic shock may be greater than previously thought, and it may take longer for the economy to recover. Amid sluggish demand, employment contracted at a steeper rate.

"To sum up, the sharp fall in export orders seriously hindered China's economic recovery in April, although businesses were gradually getting back to work. Amid the second shockwave from the pandemic, the problems of low business confidence, shrinking employment and large inventories of industrial raw materials became more serious. A package of macroeconomic policies, as suggested in the April 17 Politburo meeting, must be implemented urgently. It is particularly necessary to aid weak links including small and midsize enterprises and personal incomes."