The Chinese economy seems to be in a crisis again - at least it does in the eyes of panicking investors.

Slumping factory activity, as indicated by the flash HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index, which slid to a nine-month low of 48.3, and the US Federal Reserve's hint at a withdrawal from its bond-buying stimulus next year combined to send the benchmark Shanghai stock index down by nearly 3 percent on Thursday.

The preliminary PMI, which is much lower than the May reading of 49.2, is in line with the recently released macroeconomic data that point to gloomy prospects for China's economy in the second quarter, if not for the whole year.