CHINA'S manufacturing sector lost some growth momentum in May but was still within the expansionary realm, two surveys showed today.

The slowdown was largely due to tightening policies aiming at controlling the risk of an overheated economy, analysts said, and they added the figures still indicated a healthy expansion in Chinese manufacturing.

The official Purchasing Managers Index, a comprehensive gauge of industrial activities across the nation, moderated 1.8 percentage points from a month earlier to 53.9 percent in May, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said.

A reading above 50 pointed to an expansion, and it was the 15th straight month for the official index to stay above that line.

Meanwhile, another survey by HSBC showed that China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index settled at 52.7 in May, down from a revised 55.2 in April. May's reading was the lowest in 11 months.

While the official PMI is weighted heavily towards big domestic companies, the HSBC survey is slanted more towards privately owned and export-oriented firms.