May. 2, 2012 (China Knowledge) - China's official purchasing managers' index, a major indicator of the strength of the manufacturing sector, increased to 53.3 in April, an increase of 0.2 point from 53.1 in March, according to figures jointly released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The production index increased 2 points from the previous month to 57.2 in April. The new export order index increased 0.3 point from March to 52.2 last month.

The raw material inventory index decreased 1.0 point to 48.5 in April.

The raw material purchasing price index, however, declined 1.1 points from the previous month to 54.8.

The PMI consists of five sub indices that measure economic performance: production index, new order index, raw material inventory index, employment index and supplier delivery index, a reading of above 50 suggests expansion, while one below 50 indicates contraction.