-- China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index was down 0.1 of a percentage point month on month to 50.3% in April, according to a Thursday news release from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The PMI for large enterprises was down 1.4 percentage points to 50.2%. The PMIs for medium and small enterprises rose 1.5 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively, to 50.5% and 50.1%.
The production and new orders sub-indices remained above the critical point at 51.5% and 50.6%, respectively. The remaining sub-indices for raw material, employment and supplier delivery time were below the critical points at 49.3%, 48.8% and 49.5%, respectively.
Meanwhile, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 49.4%, down 0.7 of a percentage point from March.
The composite PMI output index was 50.1%, down 0.4 of a percentage point.