BEIJING, May 31 (NBS) - In May, China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) was 49.6, below the 50-point mark but up 2.2 points from the previous month, with the overall climate index in the manufacturing sector improving.

In terms of enterprise size, the PMI for large enterprises was 51.0, up 2.9 points from the previous month, back to the expansion zone; the PMIs for medium and small enterprises were 49.4 and 46.7 respectively, up 1.9 and 1.1 points from the previous month respectively.

On the other hand, the five sub-indices that constitute the manufacturing PMI are all in the contraction territory.

The production index was 49.7, up 5.3 points from the previous month, indicating an improvement in the manufacturing and production.

The new orders index was 48.2, up 5.6 points from the previous month, indicating a slowdown of the decline in manufacturing market demand.

The raw material inventory index was 47.9, up 1.4 points from the previous month, indicating a narrower decline in the inventory of major raw materials in the manufacturing sector.

The employment index was 47.6, up 0.4 point from the previous month, indicating a slight rebound in the employment of manufacturing enterprises.

The supplier delivery time index was 44.1, up 6.9 points from the previous month, still below the 50-point market, indicating that the delivery of raw material suppliers to the manufacturers is still slow.