China's factory expansion slowed again in February as output and export orders dropped due to the Lunar New Year holidays, hitting a 19-month low.
The Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), a gauge of factory conditions, came in at 50.3 in February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
This compared to 51.3 in January. Anything above 50 is considered growth while a figure below that points to contraction.
The indicator fell short of the 51.1 reading that analysts expected, according to a survey by Bloomberg News.
It marked a slowdown for the third consecutive month and the lowest reading since August 2016.
Chinese factories had reduced output during the week-long Chinese New Year holidays. Workers went home for the Spring Festival and prices fell due to weaker supply and demand.
New export orders and imports also fell during the month.
Although Spring Festival falling in February this year distorted the data, when averaged across the first two months of the year, the data still pointed to a clear slowdown in early 2018, analysts noted.
China has curbed activity in heavy industries in the country's northeast in an effort to reduce surplus capacity and lessen the heavy smog that typically blankets the region during the winter months.
