BEIJING — The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.4 in July, edging down from 50.9 in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on July 31.

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

China's manufacturing activity expanded at a slower pace in July, but the PMI reading of most industries remained in the expansion zone, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said.

The subindex for production stood at 51.0 in July, down 0.9 percentage points from a month earlier, while that for new orders dipped 0.6 percentage points to 50.9, a sign of slowing production and market demand in the manufacturing sector.

The new export order and import subindexes decreased to 47.7 and 49.4, respectively.

The data also showed that the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 53.3 in July, down from 53.5 in June.