BEIJING — The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.6 in February, edging down from 51.3 in January, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Feb 28.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction. The PMI remained in expansion zone for the 12th consecutive month.

The slowdown came as factory activity slackened during the Spring Festival holiday, which fell in February this year, according to the NBS.

The sub-index for production stood at 51.9 in February, retreating 1.6 percentage points from a month earlier, while that for new orders dropped 0.8 percentage points to 51.5.

The new export order and import sub-indexes edged down to 48.8 and 49.6, respectively.

Data released on Feb 28 also showed that the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 51.4 in February, down from 52.4 in January.