China Manufacturing PMI down more than expected

BEIJING
China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to 51.0 in December compared with 51.4 in November, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a statement . The federation issues the data with the National Bureau of Statistics                                        
The December PMI was lower than a median 51.2 forecast of eight economists polled earlier by Dow Jones                                        
A PMI reading above 50 indicates an expansion in manufacturing activity from the previous month, while below that indicates contraction                                        
The output, new orders and new export orders subindexes all fell from November's levels                                        
A preliminary reading of the HSBC manufacturing PMI, a competing index, fell to a three-month low of 50.5 in December