(Yicai Global) July 1 -- China's Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) recorded 49.4 last month, 0.8 percentage points lower than in May, to mark its first contraction in factory activity since February.

The National Bureau of Statistics official index showed the PMI for June at 49.4 last month, still below the 50 percent into contraction mark under which it slipped the month before. The two gauges thus disagree as to when it started shrinking.

Editor: Ben Armour