This undated photo captures a technician at work on the production line of a Lenovo venture in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING - The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.4 in July, edging down from 50.9 in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Saturday.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.

China's manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace in July, but the PMI reading of most industries remained in the expansion zone, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said

China's manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace in July, but the PMI reading of most industries remained in the expansion zone, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said.

The sub-index for production stood at 51.0 in July, down 0.9 percentage points from a month earlier, while that for new orders dipped 0.6 percentage points to 50.9, a sign of slowing production and market demand in the manufacturing sector.

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The new export order and import sub-indexes decreased to 47.7 and 49.4, respectively.

Saturday's data also showed that the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 53.3 in July, down from 53.5 in June.

In July, the sub-index for business activities in the services sector stood at 52.5, up from 52.3 in June.

The reading reflects a steady recovery in the services sector, fuelled by increasing summer consumption and other factors, Zhao said.

The sub-indexes for business activities in air transportation, catering and the hotel and lodging sector climbed by more than 10 percentage points from last month, pointing to the rapid growth of business volumes in these areas.

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Sectors related to financial services and insurance saw a slower pace of expansion in July, with the sub-indexes for business activities of these areas dropping by more than 9 percentage points.

The sub-index tracking business activity expectations for the services sector hit 60.1, remaining above 60 for six consecutive months, showing most services enterprises were optimistic about market prospects in the near term.

Affected by adverse weather conditions, including high temperatures and floods, the growth of construction activities in the country slowed, with the sub-index for business activities dipping to 57.5 in July from 60.1 a month earlier.