The Caixin China Composite PMI data (which covers both manufacturing and services) indicated that total Chinese business activity expanded at the slowest pace for four months at the end of the first quarter. Notably, the Composite Output Index fell from 53.3 in February to 51.8 in March, to signal only a modest pace of expansion. The dip in the headline index was driven by weaker increases in output across both the manufacturing and service sectors during March. Furthermore, rates of growth slipped to four-month lows in both sectors.

At 52.3 in March, the seasonally adjusted Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index fell further from January's multi-year peak, having slipped from 54.2 in February.