China April official factory PMI steady at 50.1, little growth

Reuters
Updated
An employee works on a final assembly line for CRH380B, a high speed train model, at China CNR's Tangshan Railway Vehicle's factory in Tangshan, Hebei province, February 11, 2015. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Activity in China's manufacturing sector barely grew in April, an official survey showed on Friday, holding slightly above the level separating expansion from contraction.

The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 50.1 in April, identical to the previous month's reading and above the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a reading of 50 as activity in the world's second-largest economy continues to cool.

(Reporting by Judy Hua and Pete Sweeney; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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