China's official Purchasing Managers' Index for the manufacturing sector picked up slightly to 50.3 in July from 50.1 in June, signaling a stabilizing trend in the country's economy.

Zhao Qinghe, a senior economist with the National Bureau of Statistics, said it was the 10th consecutive month that the PMI has hovered around 50.5 since October 2012.

The sub-index for new orders in July rose 0.2 percentage point to 50.6, while that for new export orders was up by 1.3 percentage points from June to 49, according to the survey conducted by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.