BEIJING, Nov. 1 -- Chinese manufacturing business activity in October waned slightly from the previous month, but it was still generally expanding, official data showed on Saturday.

The manufacturing purchasing manager's index (PMI), a key measure of factory activity in China, posted at 50.8 in October, down 0.3 percentage points from September, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 represents contraction. The NBS manufacturing PMI samples 3,000 enterprises of various sizes nationwide.

In terms of the size of the surveyed enterprises, the PMI of large manufacturers posted at 51.9 in October, down 0.1 percentage point from September.

That of medium enterprises stood at 49.1, down 0.9 percentage points from the previous month, and fell to a state of contraction.

The PMI of small manufacturers registered at 48.5, down 0.1 percentage point, and remained in the contraction territory, the NBS said.

Among the sub-indices of the PMI, the production index posted at 53.1, down 0.5 percentage points from September.

The index of new export orders dipped by 0.3 percentage points to 49.9 and new orders index lost 0.6 percentage points to stand at 51.6.

In addition, the index of production and business activity expectation dropped 1.9 percentage points month on month to 54.1.

"Despite the declines in the PMI, the reading remained above the expansion-contraction threshold and indicates China's manufacturing sector was steady as the economy is entering a 'new normal'," said Zhao Qinghe, a senior NBS statistician.

The manufacturing activity was largely on the rise, said Zhao, citing the above-50 readings in production index, new orders index and purchase quantity index.