s marginal improvement in official manufacturing PMI was concentrated in production and raw material inventory, said analysts at Nomura.
Within the official manufacturing PMI, the new-orders subindex rose to 49.5 in July from 48.6 in June, while the new-export-orders subindex fell to 46.3 from 47.2.
In July, China's official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose from 49.3 in June to 49.3 in July, but remained in contraction for a fourth consecutive month. The average of the two gauges fell to a four-month low, according to analysts at Capital Economics, and is consistent with a further deterioration in factory activity last month.
The official non-manufacturing PMI, which tracks business sentiment in the services and construction industries, fell to 51.5 in July from 53.2 in June.
within the non-manufacturing gauge, the services subindex fell to 51.5 in July, from 52.8 in June, and the construction subindex fell to the second-lowest reading on record at 51.2, down from 55.7 in June.
The pace of expansion has been moderated in this year's economic recovery. The moderation is likely the result of some initial pent-up demand that has started to fade, said Erin Xin, an economist at HSBC.
China's economic prosperity does not 'turning the corner', and economic hope hinges on assistance from Beijing.
Caixin/S&P's composite PMI fell to 51.9 from 52.5 in June, marking the seventh consecutive month of expansion. The rate of growth was the softest since January.
Is growth likely to be modest?
The PMI surveys suggests that China's economic recovery has continued to lose momentum in July, the analysts at Capital Economics said.
The economy is from slipping into a recession, not least because external headwinds look set to persist for a while longer, said Evans-Pritchard and Yue.
During the meeting, the leader provided some confidence that the leadership is serious about shoring up the economy and that some stimulus is on its way. Until concrete support is rolled out soon, the trend in demand risks becoming self-reinforcing, he said.