An official survey showed that China's manufacturing sector continued to expand in January but at a slower pace, which analysts said suggests a steady growth trend in China's economy.
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector fell to 50.4 percent in January from 50.6 percent in December, China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said Friday.
January marked the fourth consecutive month that the PMI remained above 50 percent, according to a statement from the CFLP.
A reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 percent indicates contraction.
However, the indicator also dropped for the first time since August when it hit a nine-month low of 49.2 percent.
The slight retreat suggests that China's economy will exhibit a steady growth trend in the near future, said Zhang Liqun, an analyst from the Development Research Center of the State Council, or China's cabinet.
Both the sub-indices for new orders and raw material inventories went up in January from a month earlier, reflecting stronger demand and corporate confidence, the CFLP statement said.
Although manufacturers are continuing to expand, lower sub-indices for export orders and overstocked products point only to stable production activity instead of robust growth, Zhang said.
The Royal Bank of Scotland's chief China economist Louis Kuijs estimated that the PMI, after being adjusted for seasonal factors, would likely reach 51 percent in January from 50.5 percent in December.
The numbers mean China's economy entered 2013 with solid growth momentum but that quarter-on-quarter economic growth is likely to moderate somewhat in the first half of 2013 after a strong showing at the end of 2012, Kuijs said.
China's growth quickened to 7.9 percent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2012, ending a seven-quarter downshift that was caused by weak external demand and cooling property investment.
Kuijs said he expects the country's economy to expand 8.4 percent in 2013 and does not expect much of a slowdown in the second half of the year, as the global economy will likely improve by then.
The official PMI figure, based on a survey of purchasing managers from 3,000 companies in 21 industries, diverged from the HSBC's flash PMI reading issued last week.
The PMI for China's manufacturing sector climbed to 51.9 percent in January, marking a two-year high, according to the bank.
The NBS and CFLP figures show that the PMI sub-index for production slipped 0.7 percentage points from a month earlier to 51.3 percent in January.
The new orders sub-index rose 0.4 percentage percentage points to 51.6 percent, its highest level since May 2012.
The sub-index for raw material inventories climbed 2.8 percentage points to 50.1 percent, going above 50 percent for the first time since May 2011.
The employment sub-index declined 1.2 percentage points to 47.8 percent. The figure has come out to less than 50 percent for eight consecutive months, indicating that enterprises are continuing to cut jobs.
The PMI sub-index for large companies went up 0.2 percentage points to 51.3 percent, while that for small firms decreased 0.2 percentage points to 49.7 percent and that for medium-sized ones slid 1.9 percentage points to 46.2 percent, according to official data.
