BEIJING, Feb. 1 -- Chinese manufacturing business activity continue to drop in January, marking increasing downward pressures on the economy, official data showed on Sunday.

The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI), a key measure of factory activity in China, posted at 49.8 in January, down 0.3 percentage point from December, according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below 50 represents contraction.