(Forbes) - China's official PMI hit an 11 month high in March, the government reported on Tuesday.  Maybe now the iShares FTSE China (FXI) exchange traded fund will stop being such a bore.

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The purchasing managers index, a measure of economic expansion and contraction, reached 50.9 in March, slightly above the equilibrium mark of 50. It was 50.4 in January and 50.1 in February and has now remained above 50 for six consecutive months.

The National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing reported on Monday that PMI subindexes for manufacturing output rose to 52.7, overall new orders to 52.3, and export orders to 50.9, the highest since last May as China's economy slowly rebounds.

Lu Zhengwei, chief economist of Industrial Bank, told China Daily on Tuesday that trends will continue toward moderate recovery. China needs to maintain steady macroeconomic policies, "neither too loose nor too tight", Lu said.

FXI year to date is down 9.81%, making China the worst performing BRIC country.  The MSCI Emerging Markets index is down 4.6% by comparison.