Chinese officials maintained their economic policy stance, indicating it’s too early to tighten monetary and fiscal measures or push for controversial economic reforms despite the fast-paced expansion of the economy in the first quarter, which has prompted several agencies to revise their growth forecasts above the government’s target of about 5%. Meanwhile, China’s manufacturing PMI fell to 49.2 in April from 51.9 in March, the first contraction in factory activity since December 2022, and the non-manufacturing PMI slowed more than expected to 56.4 from 58.2.