China govt PMI shows recovery on track: govt

China's manufacturing activity continued to expand in September, indicating that the country's economic recovery is sustainable, a government index showed Thursday.

The Purchasing Managers Index, a gauge of nationwide manufacturing activity, rose to 54.3 in September from 54.0 in August, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in a statement on its website.

The September reading was the seventh straight month the PMI has remained above 50. A PMI reading above 50 means the sector is expanding, while a reading below 50 indicates an overall decline.

"The new export order index and employment index reported remarkable increases, indicating the Chinese economy will continue to recover and the recovery will be sustainable," researcher Zhang Liqun said in the statement.

The HSBC China Manufacturing PMI, released Wednesday, showed a slight fall in September to 55.0 from 55.1 in August.

China's economy expanded by 7.9 percent in the second quarter of the year, up from 6.1 percent in the first quarter, mainly as a result of massive government spending amid the global downturn.

Beijing announced a four-trillion-yuan (585-billion-dollar) stimulus package last year in a bid to prop up growth in the country by boosting investment in infrastructure and other government-backed projects.

The PMI sank to a record low of 38.8 in November as the global financial crisis took hold, but improved continuously in the following months, moving above 50 in March.

Last year manufacturing accounted for more than 40 percent of China's economic output, which has been hit hard by evaporating demand for its products in key export markets such as the United States and Europe.