China's manufacturers were at their most active in five months in May, according to HSBC's preliminary purchasing managers' index (PMI) released on Thursday. The HSBC/Markit China flash manufacturing PMI for May rebounded sharply to 49.7, hitting a five-month high and up from a reading of 48.1 in April, said data company Markit in a statement. But the figure is still below the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.