(Yicai Global) Nov. 30 -- China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index dropped to a critical level this month, marking the lowest point since July 2016.

The official gauge nudged down to 50, the dividing line between expansion and contraction, from 50.2 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. 

Despite the dip, the structure of results improved again, according to Zhao Qinghe, a senior NBS statistician. The purchasing price index and the ex-factory price index for major raw materials were at 50.3 and 46.4, this year's lowest, dropping 7.7 and 5.6 points from last month due to a drop in some commodity prices, he said.

Production was stable as demand slowed, Zhao said. The output index was at 51.9, down 0.1, while the new order gauge was at 50.4, down 0.4 percent, but still above the critical level, showing orders are increasing at a slower rate, he added.

Most manufacturers continued to expand business, while the import and export prosperity index stayed at a low level, Zhao said. The new export order index and new import order index were at 47 and 47.1, both below the critical point, indicating that downward pressure on trade increased due to a slowdown in the global economic recovery and an increase in trade frictions, he added.

The PMI for small and medium-sized firms was also lower than 50, coming in 0.6 points lower at 49.2 for small firms, and 1.4 points lower at 49.1 for mid-sized ones, Zhao said.

China's non-manufacturing business activity index was 53.4 this month, down 0.5 points, indicating that this area of the economy is still expanding as it cools, according to the NBS.

The business activity index, or BAI, for services rose 0.3 points to 52.4, hinting at expansion. The same index for the construction industry fell 4.6 to 59.3.

The comprehensive PMI output index was 52.8 in November, down 0.3, indicating that Chinese firms have kept expanding their business activities but with less confidence. The manufacturing output index and the non-manufacturing BAI, as the two components of the comprehensive PMI output index, were 51.9 and 53.4, respectively, both down compared with last month, according to the NBS.

Editor: Bivash Mukherjee