China's October purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 49.3 from 49.8 in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

The drop was mainly due to a decline in new orders, said NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe. And the output price index, which closely tracks producer price inflation and industrial profit growth, also fell. However, the PMI of high-tech manufacturing, equipment manufacturing and consumer goods industries was 51.4 percent, 50.3 percent and 50.8 percent respectively, higher than the overall manufacturing sector.

The official PMI is a gauge of sentiment among larger factory operators, with 50 being the line between expansion and contraction.

China's non-manufacturing PMI fell to 52.8 in October from 53.7 in September, the NBS data shows.

The official composite PMI in October, which covers both manufacturing and services activity, edged down to 52 from September's 53.1, but is still in the expansion territory.