China's manufacturing sector shrank for the first time in four months in April while non-manufacturing activity expanded for the fourth straight month, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Sunday.

The official purchasing managers index for China's manufacturing sector stood at 49.2 in April, down from 51.9 in March, according to the NBS, below the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction. 

This month's drop in the manufacturing PMI comes as insufficient market demand and the high comparison base in the first quarter due to a rapid recovery in the manufacturing sector, said Zhao Qinghe, a senior NBS statistician, adding that the sub-indexes for production and new orders came in at 50.2 and 48.8 in April, both down from the previous month. 

China's non-manufacturing PMI came in at 56.4 in April, down from 58.2 a month earlier. Also, the country's official composite PMI, which includes both manufacturing and non-manufacturing activities, came in at 54.4 compared with 57 in March, according to the NBS.