China's business sentiment fell for the second consecutive month in February to the lowest in five years, [Hong Kong Company Formation|Hong Kong Company Registration]showing signs of significant weakening in business activity, a private report showed.

The monthly measure of business confidence in China fell to 50.2 this month from 52.2 in January, the lowest reading since January 2009, Market News International (MNI), a unit of Deutsche Boerse Group, said in a re-port today.

A sub-index that measure business conditions over three months deteriorated to the lowest since March 2007.

However, credit availability rose, according to another sub-index, which posted the highest reading since last October. [Hong Kong Company Registration Guide]It's possible that the authorities have relaxed their tight credit policies or that the credit tightening has been softer than thought, said the report.

"Our survey provides one of the first indications of how the economy performed in February and the results were very poor. Business confidence hit a 5-year low while expectations for the future were the lowest on re-cord," said Philip Uglow, chief economist of MNI Indicators.

"The Chinese authorities face the unenviable task of trying to achieve a more sustainable growth path while en-suring that they don't pull the rug from underneath the economy."