Manufacturing sector expansion cools

China's manufacturing activities, measured by the official Purchasing Managers Index, softened in October after two consecutive months of expansion, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

The PMI, a gauge of factory conditions, stood at 51.6 in October, the NBS said in a statement on its website. It was 52.4 in September, which marked a five-year high. A reading above 50 is deemed as expansion and one below that mark indicates contraction.

The manufacturing sector of the world's second-largest economy remained on track for expansion since the October reading was above the demarcation mark of 50, said Zhao Qinghe, a senior statistician of the NBS, in a statement. "Despite the retreat, the indicator was still 0.4 percentage points higher than a year ago and remained at the average level for this year."