China's Jan PMI data is likely to have contracted for the sixth consecutive month in January, a Reuters survey showed. Reuters forecasts official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) likely edged down to 49.6 in January from December's 49.7. Weak data will probably heighten concerns of a deeper economic slowdown. 

However, there are chances that the headline data might be distorted by the week-long Lunar New Year break, which begins on Feb. 7th. Policymakers are already struggling to restore investor confidence after a renewed plunge in stock markets and the yuan currency. Poor data might further add to the woes as China's economy continues to fight headwinds from industrial overcapacity, high debt and a cooling property market this year. 

"Manufacturers shut factories weeks before China's Lunar New Year Holiday, which would drag down factory output," said Zhang Yiping, an economist of China Merchants Securities in Shenzhen. "We expect China's economic growth to show a certain degree of slowing down in the first quarter."