China's July manufacturing PMI rises to 50.3

China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector rose slightly to 50.3 percent in July from 50.1 percent in June, according to official data released Thursday.

The manufacturing PMI has stayed above the boom-bust line of 50 percent for 10 months in a row, according to data from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).

Zhang Liqun, analyst with the Development Research Center of the State Council, said the slight rise signaled a stabilizing trend in the country's economy.

China's economy has been stuck in a protracted slowdown, easing to 7.5-percent growth in the second quarter from 7.7 percent in the first three months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Zhang said market expectations for stabilized economic growth have been strengthening and market demand is generally stable.

Data showed that the sub-index for new orders rose 0.2 percentage points to 50.6 percent, while that for new export orders was up by 1.3 percentage points from June to 49 percent last month.

Most sub-indices increased from a month earlier, the CFLP said.

The sub-index for production moved up 0.4 percentage points from June to 52.4 percent, while that for raw material inventories was up 0.2 percentage points from June to 47.6 percent.

The sub-index for the purchasing prices of major raw materials surged 5.5 percentage points to 50.1 percent in July, while the employment sub-index edged up 0.4 percentage points to 49.1 percent.

The business outlook sub-index rose 2.3 percentage points to 56.4 percent, ending a dropping trend for the previous three months and signaling that more companies are positive about their business prospects for the next three months.