Activity in China’s manufacturing sector edged up to a four-month high in February, a private survey showed. Export orders however shrank at their fastest rate in 20 months, showed the flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI).

The PMI inched up to 50.1 in February, a whisker above the 50-point level that separates growth in monthly activity from a contraction. But even as factory activity grew marginally, the survey suggested that manufacturers still faced considerable risks from weak foreign demand and deepening deflationary pressures.

The survey showed domestic demand picked up slightly, but the new export orders sub-index shed three percentage points from January to skid to 47.1, the sharpest rate of contraction since June 2013.

Input and output prices also fell. Though prices did not drop as sharply as they did in January, the trend pointed to further pressure on companies’ profitability.