BEIJING — The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for China’s manufacturing sector came in at 51.4 this month, down from 51.5 in March, the National Bureau of Statistics said on April 30.

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

Despite the slight decline, the April figure was still higher than an average of 51 in the first quarter and 51.2 for April 2017, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on its website.

“The manufacturing sector continued the momentum of steady growth,” said NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe.

Production saw steady expansion and demand was “generally stable,” Zhao said, as the subindex for production held steady at 53.1 and the new order subindex dropped slightly to 52.9.

The NBS data also showed that the nonmanufacturing PMI rose from 54.6 in March to 54.8 in April, and the composite PMI output index rose from 54 in March to 54.1 this month.