China's manufacturing may shrink for a fourth month in February, indicating the world's second- biggest economy remains vulnerable to a deeper slowdown as Europe's crisis caps exports and the housing market cools.

The preliminary 49.7 reading of an index from HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and Markit Economics today compared with a final 48.8 in January. A number below 50 points to a contraction. January and February economic data are distorted by a weeklong holiday.

China is cutting banks' reserve requirements from Feb. 24 to support an economic expansion that Nomura Holdings Inc. estimates may be 7.5 percent this quarter, the least since the global financial crisis.