China's manufacturing sector PMI drops to 53.9 pc in Dec

BEIJING: The Purchasing Managers Index ( PMI) of China's manufacturing sector dropped to 53.9 per cent in December, down 1.3 percentage points from November.

The figure marked the 22nd straight month in which the index was above the boom-and-bust line of 50 per cent.

Before dropping in December, the index had been rising for four consecutive months, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said.

The drop was seen as a delayed response to declining commodity prices in November, as the November PMI did not reflect that trend, said Liu Tiejun, an analyst with Haitong Securities.

PMI comprises of a package of indices to measure performance of the country's manufacturing sector.

A reading above 50 per cent indicates economic expansion, while that below 50 per cent indicates contraction.