Xinhua Finance (TSE Mothers: 9399) and Market News International (MNI), a part of the news service line of Xinhua Finance, today announced the May Xinhua Finance/MNI China Business Sentiment Survey.

Chinese business sentiment continued to deteriorate this month, despite a pick-up in the headline index, as rising costs and restrictions on credit availability took their toll, the results of the latest Xinhua Finance/MNI China Business Sentiment Survey suggest.

The headline overall sentiment index rebounded to 61.11 in May, up from April's record low of 55.81, but below March's 65.69 and sharply down on the 78.80 recorded a year ago.

Despite the improvement in current conditions, pessimism about the future continued to build, with the index measuring overall expectations for business in three months falling to a record low of 56.54 compared with April's 60.08, the previous record low.