BEIJING,March31(Xinhua)--China"smanufacturingactivitymaintainedexpansionforthreeconsecutivemonthsinMarch,offeringfreshevidenceofthecountry"ssteadyeconomicrecovery.

Thepurchasingmanagers"index(PMI)forChina"smanufacturingsectorcameinat51.9inMarch,downfrom52.6inFebruary,datafromtheNationalBureauofStatisticsshowedFriday.

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Areadingabove50indicatesexpansion,whileareadingbelowreflectscontraction.

ThemanufacturingPMIcontinuedexpansioninMarch,thoughataslowerpaceduetoahighbaselastmonth,suggestingasteadyrecoveryofChina"seconomicgrowth,thebureau"sseniorstatisticianZhaoQinghesaid.

Theproductionindexandnewordersindexesreached54.6and53.6,respectively,wellabovetheboom-and-bustline.

Of21surveyedindustries,13sawstableexpansionmonthonmonth.High-techmanufacturing,equipmentmanufacturing,andconsumergoodssectorsallmaintainedexpansion.

ThePMIsforlarge,medium-sized,andsmallenterprisesstoodat53.6,50.3,and50.4,respectively,allintheexpansionterritory.

Marketconfidencealsoimprovedremarkably.Thebusinessoutlookindexcameinat55.5,withoptimismsharedbyallthesurveyedindustries.

WenTao,ananalystwiththeChinaLogisticsInformationCenter,saidthesub-indexreadingsindicatedthatthemarketdemandgrewatastableandfasterpace,productionactivitiesrecoveredsteadily,andbusinessactivitiesregainedmomentum.

Sincethebeginningoftheyear,theChineseeconomyhasbeenrecoveringatafasterpace,withmajoreconomicindicatorsseeingsteadyexpansion,thankstogovernmentpro-growthmeasuresrangingfromexpandingdomesticdemandtomodernizingtheindustrialsystemandattractingforeigninvestment.

Despitetherecoveryinfactoryactivities,Zhaocautionedthatsomeenterprisesarestillgrapplingwithtightcapitalandhighoperatingcosts,notingthatthefoundationoftheeconomicrecoveryneedstoconsolidate.

Friday"sdataalsoshowedthatChina"snon-manufacturingactivityinMarchsawthefastestexpansionsinceMay2011,withthePMIforthenon-manufacturingsectorreaching58.2.

China"scompositePMIedgedto57inMarchfrom56.4inFebruary,signalingthatoverallproductionbymanufacturingandnon-manufacturingenterprisescontinuedtowarmup.