China's manufacturing PMI edges down to 49.2 in October

BEIJING - The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.2 in October, down from 49.6 in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Sunday.

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

The slowdown came as power supply continued to be tight and prices of some raw materials rose sharply, said NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe.

In October, the sub-index measuring purchase prices of major raw materials rose 8.6 percentage points from September to 72.1, while the ex-factory price index climbed to 61.1, up 4.7 percentage points from last month.

The sub-index for production retreated 1.1 percentage points to 48.4, while that for new orders dropped 0.5 percentage points to 48.8.

The figures showed that production and market demand in the manufacturing sector both weakened last month, said Zhao.

Sunday's data also showed that the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 52.4 in October, down from 53.2 in September.