The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of China's manufacturing sector dropped to 53.9 percent in December, down 1.3 percentage points from November, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said Saturday.

The figure marked the 22nd straight month that the index was above the boom-and-bust line of 50 percent. Before dropping in December, the index had been rising for four consecutive months. It was a delayed response to dropping commodity prices in November as the November PMI did not reflect that trend, said Liu Tiejun, an analyst with Haitong Securities.

The PMI includes a package of indices to measure performance of the country's manufacturing sector. A reading above 50 percent indicates economic expansion, while that below 50 percent indicates contraction.

(Xinhua News Agency January 2, 2011)