Beijing, JULY 24: Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector slowed to an 11-month low in July as new orders faltered and the job market weakened, a preliminary survey showed on Wednesday, suggesting the world's second-largest economy is still losing momentum.

The flash HSBC/Markit Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 47.7 from June's final reading of 48.2, a third straight month below the watershed 50 line which divides expansion from contraction and the weakest level since August 2012.

The employment sub-index slid to 47.3 in July, the weakest since March 2009, the depths of the global financial crisis and has been below 50 for four months in a row.

"The lower reading of the July HSBC Flash China Manufacturing PMI suggests a continuous slowdown in manufacturing sectors thanks to weaker new orders and faster destocking," said Hongbin Qu, chief China economist of HSBC.

"This adds more pressure on the labour market," he said.

China's economy grew 7.5 per cent in April-June from a year earlier, the ninth quarter of slowdown in the past 10 quarters.

Since taking office in March, China's new leadership has said it is prepared to tolerate lower growth and eschew stimulus in order to push a restructuring of the economy to wean it off a dependence on exports for growth and towards consumption.

But while top leaders have stressed in recent weeks that reform is the priority, the latest being President Xi Jinping, they were also at pains to assure investors that Beijing would not allow the economy to slip too far.

On Wednesday the industry ministry said it was putting a priority on restructuring and reforming traditional industries such as steel, shipbuilding, cement and aluminium, once drivers of growth but now plagued with overcapacity.