Chinese factory activity contracted in January for a second straight month, a closely watched private survey shows.
The result comes a day after the government announced the first official decline in the sector in more than two years.
British banking giant HSBC says a preliminary reading of its purchasing managers' index shows it edged up to a final reading of 49.7 last month, from 49.6 in December.
However, the PMI still revealed shrinkage in the manufacturing sector of the world's second-largest economy, a key driver of global growth. Readings above 50 point to growth.
The index, compiled by information services provider Markit, tracks activity in China's factories and workshops and is a closely watched indicator of the health of the Asian economic giant.
The figure follows an official Chinese survey results issued on Sunday showing manufacturing activity contracting for the first time in more than two years.
China's official PMI for January, released by the National Bureau of Statistics, came in at 49.8 last month, down from 50.1 in December.
It was the first official contraction reading for 27 months.
"We think demand in the manufacturing sector remains weak and more aggressive monetary and fiscal easing measures will be needed to prevent another sharp slowdown in growth," Qu Hongbin, HSBC chief economist for China, said in the release announcing the bank's figure.
The manufacturing weakness comes after China's economy expanded 7.4 per cent in 2014, slower than the 7.7 per cent in 2013 and the worst result since the 3.8 per cent recorded in 1990.
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