China's manufacturing PMI at 49.1 in January

China's manufacturing sector has witnessed a moderation in January, as the mass exodus of employees returned to their home regions for the upcoming Spring Festival holiday, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

The purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector fell to 49.1 in January, down 1 percentage point from the previous month, according to the NBS. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 reflects contraction.

Zhao Qinghe, an NBS statistician, said that the upcoming Spring Festival holiday and the associated mass migration of workers back to their hometowns weighed heavily on the country's manufacturing sector.

The non-manufacturing PMI, which tracks business activity in the services and construction sectors, fell to 50.2 in January, down 2 percentage points from December. The figure still remains above the 50-point mark, indicating that the non-manufacturing sector as a whole continues to expand, the official showed.

The sub-index for future business activity in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors registered relatively high readings of 55.3 and 56.7, respectively, pointing to the widespread optimism among enterprises about the market outlook after the Spring Festival holiday, Zhao said.