China's manufacturing activities continued to strengthen in April, an index showed today which improved for a fifth straight month that indicating stabilization in the world's second-largest economy.

The official Purchasing Managers' Index, a comprehensive gauge of China's manufacturing vitality, increased to 53.3 in April, up from 53.1 in March, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said.

A reading above 50 means expansion.

The federation said April's index showed that China's industrial performance has been better than the same period of last year.

China's gross domestic product expanded 8.1 percent from a year earlier in the first three months, the slowest in nearly three years after both exports and fixed-asset investment growth weakened in recent months.

Industrial production rose 11.6 percent in the first quarter, up from 11.4 percent in January and February.

Profit of Chinese industrial companies continued to decline in the first quarter of this year. Net earnings of Chinese manufacturers fell 1.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.04 trillion yuan (US$165 billion) in the January-March period. But the decrease narrowed from the 5.2 percent drop in the first two months.