Feb. 2, 2010 (China Knowledge) - China's Purchasing Managers' Index, a major indicator of the strength of the manufacturing sector, reached 55.8% in January, according to statistics released by the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing today.

The growth is 0.8 percentage points less than that of December last year, said the federation.

The index stayed above 50% for the eleventh consecutive month since March 2009, when the index rebounded to 52.4%.

Based on surveys directed at purchasing and supply manager of more than 700 manufacturers in China, the PMI measures the economic performance of the country. A PMI reading above 50% suggests expansion in the manufacturing sector, while a PMI below 50% indicates the sector is declining.

The PMI consists of 11 indices that measure economic performance.

The production index dropped slightly by 0.9 percentage points from the previous month to 60.5% in January, while the new order index declined 1.1 percentage points to 59.9%.

The new export order index rose 0.6 percentage points from the previous month to 53.2%, and the import index increased 0.9 percentage points to 53.4%.

The purchasing price index grew 3.3 percentage points from November to 66.7% in December.