Activity in China's vast manufacturing sector may have contracted in July for the first time in 10 months, a Reuters poll showed, signalling a protracted slowdown in the world's second-largest economy as demand at home and abroad sags. The median forecast of 12 economists polled by Reuters this week showed China's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) likely fell to 49.9 in July from 50.1 in June. A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity while one below it points to a contraction. The last time the official PMI showed a contraction was in September last year, when the reading was 49.8. A preliminary PMI ... (full story)