China's manufacturing sector expanded at its slowest pace in eight months, China Daily reported Wednesday.
The purchasing managers index (PMI) for the sector eased to 50.1 percent in July, down 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, according to official survey results.
The PMI data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics suggested the manufacturing sector was still expanding though the growth has slowed.
A reading of 50 percent demarcates expansion from contraction.
However, July's PMI reading was below market expectations. Analysts have forecast that the official data may inch up from one month earlier as the world's second-largest economy was stabilizing.
China's economy expanded at 7.6 percent in the second quarter, marking the first time that the country's economic growth rate has fallen below the 8-percent mark since the fourth quarter of 2009.