The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) of China's manufacturing sector rose to 53.8 per cent in September, up 2.1 percentage points from August, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on Friday.
The reading of the index for September was the highest since May and marked the 19th consecutive month that the index was above the boom-bust line of 50 per cent.
The PMI comprises a package of indices to measure the performance of the country's manufacturing sector. According to the CFLP, nine of the 11 sub-indices, including production and new orders, increased in September vis-a-vis August.
"The September index indicates that the slowdown in China's economic growth has stabilised," said Zhang Liqun, a researcher with the State Council's Development Research Centre.
China's gross domestic product grew by 10.3 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter, down from 11.9 per cent in the first quarter. Development of the PMI index and strong expansion of consumption, fixed assets investment and exports -- the three engines fuelling national economic growth -- all proved that relatively fast economic growth momentum had been established, Zhang said. "Economic growth is not expected to slow sharply in the future," the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
