China's manufacturing activity contracted for the second straight month in February.
The news comes a day after China's central bank announced an interest rate cut to help stem a slump in the world's second-largest economy.
The official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) came in at 49.9 last month, up a fraction from 49.8 in January, but remaining in contraction.
The index, which tracks activity in factories and workshops, is considered a key indicator of the health of China's economy, a major driver of global growth.
A figure above 50 signals expansion, while anything below indicates shrinkage.
January's figure had been the first contraction for 27 months and highlighted weakness in the key sector as China's economic growth slows.
China's overall economy expanded 7.4 per cent in 2014, a 24-year low, with the slowdown prompting authorities to loosen monetary policy in a bid to put a floor under growth.
Underscoring concern, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) announced on Saturday it was lowering benchmark interest rates for the second time in three months.
The central bank lowered its one-year rate for deposits by 25 basis points, or 0.25 percentage point, to 2.5 per cent and its one-year lending rate by a similar margin to 5.35 per cent.
The move takes effect on Sunday.
In a statement posted on its website, the bank pointed to "historically low inflation" as among the factors behind the move.
China's inflation plunged to a more than five-year low of 0.8 per cent in January, fuelling fears the economy could be on the brink of deflation.
The PBoC surprised markets in late November by cutting interest rates for the first time in more than 30 months.
