(Yicai Global) Dec. 3 -- Small and  privately owned Chinese manufacturing businesses logged a modest growth  last month while bigger companies continued to fall. 

Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers index, which measures the performance of smaller players, climbed 0.2 point to 50.2 from the month before. A reading below 50 suggests contraction while a number above 50 means an increase. 

The official manufacturing PMI was 50,  which was 0.2 point lower than in October, data from the National Bureau  of Statistics show. 

The Caixin index, often known as the Caixin-Markit index, sends  out surveys to 600 small and medium-sized companies while the official  NBS index measures the performance of 3,000 state-owned and other,  generally larger companies.

Editor: Emmi Laine