BEIJING A business survey shows Chinas manufacturing contracted again in September but suggests the slowdown might be stabilizing.

HSBC Corp. said Thursday a preliminary version of its purchasing managers index, based on a survey of some 420 companies, stood at 47.8 on a 100-point scale on which numbers below 50 indicate a contraction. That was up slightly from Augusts 47.6.

Chinas manufacturing growth is still slowing, but the pace of slowdown is stabilizing, said HSBC economist Hongbin Qu in a statement with the report.

Analysts expect a rebound in Chinas economic growth late this year or in early 2013 following two interest rate cuts and higher government spending aimed at reversing the countrys deepest slump since the 2008 global crisis.