REUTERS/China Daily
Economists polled by Bloomberg are looking for manufacturing to fall to 48.5, from 49.5 the previous month.
A reading below 50 indicates contraction.
We already saw official PMI fall to an eight-month low of 50.2.
Economists have said that markets should interpret the PMI data with some caution because of the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday.
But Societe Generale's Wei Yao pointed out that "0.8 point decline in January and February combined was still sharper than the average decline of 0.5 point during the same period historically." What's more the decline was broad-based with all the sub-indices slowing.