Overall business production and operational activities in China continued to contract in August, with the official Composite PMI Output Index coming in at 49.5, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a figure below signals a contraction.
The latest print missed the consensus forecast of 50.2 tracked by Trading Economics, but improved from the 49.3 recorded in the previous month.
The index, which tracks the aggregate performance of both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors, was driven by diverging momentum between its two core components.
The manufacturing production index came in at 49.8 from 49.2 in the previous month, while the non-manufacturing business activity index remained at 49.