BEIJING - The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector stood at 49 in October, down 0.8 percentage points from the previous month, official data revealed Friday.

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

"In October, manufacturing production activities slowed compared to the previous month, affected by both the early release of some demand ahead of the National Day holiday and an increasingly complex international environment," said Huo Lihui, a chief statistician with the National Bureau of Statistics.

The National Day holiday this year coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, extending the vacation period from Oct 1 through Oct 8.

The sub-index for production stood at 49.7, down 2.2 percentage points from September - indicating a slowdown in manufacturing production.

On the demand side, the sub-index for new orders came in at 48.8 in October, down 0.9 percentage points from the month before.

The sub-index for supplier delivery time stood at 50 percent, a drop of 0.8 percentage points from the previous month - which showed that the delivery time for suppliers of raw materials in the manufacturing industry was basically unchanged from a month earlier.

Non-manufacturing PMI

For the country's non-manufacturing sector, the PMI came in at 50.1 in the month, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, according to the data.

The sub-index for the service sector stood at 50.2, edging up 0.1 percentage point from the month before, indicating a modest recovery in the sector's vitality, the bureau's data showed.

Boosted by the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, sectors closely linked to travel and consumption, such as railway and air transportation, accommodation, and culture, sports and entertainment, all recorded readings above 60 in October - demonstrating high market activity, said Huo.

Meanwhile, driven by the Singles' Day shopping festival, the postal industry's business activity index surged beyond 70 - thus signaling accelerated growth in business volume, Huo noted.

The business expectation index for the service sector stood at a relatively high level of 56.1 - revealing that service enterprises are optimistic about the market.

The business activity index for the construction sector came in at 49.1 in October, down 0.2 percentage points from the previous month.