In what can be considered as a sign that China's economy is losing momentum, the country's manufacturing activity expanded at 51.1 in August, the slowest pace in three months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) announced on Monday.

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The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing in August failed to hit the estimate of 51.2 and was slower than the 51.7 expansion registered in July, the NBS data showed.

Analyst estimates for the official PMI ranged from 50.3 to 51.7. The index is based on responses to surveys sent to purchasing executives at 3,000 companies.

The figure also was roughly in line with a median forecast of 51 in a Dow Jones survey of 10 economists. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion from the previous month and below indicates contraction.

Manufacturing lost its momentum as growth in output and new orders cooled, a private survey showed. The PMI figure adds to suggestions that the Chinese economy has not fully recovered yet and may have a hard time achieving its 7.5 percent growth target for the year.

Aside from the PMI data, China's weaker-than-anticipated credit, production and investment data also add up to evidence that the world's second largest economy is losing momentum.

With the slow manufacturing expansion, China is expected to announce more stimulus measures in the next few weeks, said Lu Ting, Bank of America Corp.'s Hong Kong-based head of Greater China economics.

Preliminary HSBC China manufacturing PMI, a competing indicator, fell to a three-month low of 50.3 in August. The final August reading for the HSBC PMI is due later Monday.

TagsChina PMI, China manufacturing, China Manufacturing PMI