China's manufacturing activity declines for fifth month in Sept

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's manufacturing activity in September shrank for a fifth straight month, albeit at a slower pace than August, an official factory survey showed on Monday.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) nudged up to 49.8 in September from 49.1 in August, still below the 50-mark separating growth from contraction but beating a median forecast of 49.5 in a Reuters poll.

(Reporting by Ellen Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sam Holmes)