China manufacturing steady in September

CHINESE manufacturing held firm in September, coming in slightly above expectations and painting a mixed picture of the world's second largest economy which is grappling with a continued slump in growth.

The official purchasing managers index (PMI) came in at 51.5 in September, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on Wednesday. This was unchanged from August, but lower than the 51.7 reading in July.

On Tuesday, a private PMI index published by investment bank HSBC also remained unchanged at 50.2 in September compared with August.

The index, which tracks activity in China's factories and worksh…