By Aileen Wang and Jonathan Standing
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in more than a year in August with a jump in new orders, official data showed on Sunday, raising hopes that a rapid economic slowdown in the world's second-largest economy may have been arrested.
The purchasing managers' index (PMI) figure, published by the National Bureau of Statistics, rose to 51.0 in August from 50.3 in July, the highest level since last April and ahead of market expectations of 50.6 in a Reuters poll.
A reading above 50 indicates expanding activity, while a reading below 50 points to a contraction.
Beijing has stepped up efforts to prevent a sharp economic slowdown by quickening railway investment and public housing construction and introducing a series of measures to help smaller companies, which could sustain the revival of internal demand in the coming months.
"We are seeing clearer signs of economic conditions improving," said Haibin Zhu, chief China economist at JP Morgan in Hong Kong.
"One of the reasons is the lagging effect of credit growth earlier in the year, while the second is the recent shift in the policy stance and more concrete policy announcement."
As one of the first leading indicators gauging economic momentum, the improved reading could bode well for other August data, further confirming a stabilizing trend in the economy.
The official survey showed an across-the-board recovery in all sub-indices, ranging from new orders and quantity of purchases to input prices and employment, pointing to a positive picture for the vast factory sector.
"The PMI figure showed evident recovery in August, suggesting the economy is further stabilizing," Zhang Liqun, an economist at the Development Research Centre, a top government think tank in Beijing, said in a statement accompanying the PMI.
"The improvement in all sub-indices also showed market expectations are turning better and companies are adapting to the changing business environment," he added.
The sub-index measuring new orders rose to 52.4 in August from 50.6 in July, indicating stronger demand for Chinese goods.
Export orders returned to expansionary territory, rising to 50.2 from 49.0 in July, suggesting external demand is also up.
SMALL FIRMS ALSO PICKING UP
A separate PMI survey sponsored by HSBC, which focuses more on small-and medium-sized firms in the private sector, is scheduled to be published on Monday.
Its preliminary August reading, published last week, rose to 50.1, the highest level in four months, mainly due to a rebound in new orders.