THE Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) reports that China's manufacturing sector was showing little sign of export growth in the first five month year on year.

The HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing consecutive month in May, though its 49.2 reading was better than the 48.9 posted in April.

The rise was attributed to new orders, but the measure for new export orders fell to 46.7 over the period from 50.3, reported HSBC, drawn from a survey of 420 manufacturing companies.

"Both domestic and export orders remain in contraction, pointing to lacklustre economic activities," said HSBC. "Five months into 2015, the economy sees little sign of a pickup.

"Even as the official PMI suggests stabilisation with an improvement to 50.2 from 50.1, operations for smaller businesses in the panel remain challenging. Therefore, the risks to economic activities are still on the downside," HSBC said.