THANKS to a stabilizing economy, China's industrial activities improved somewhat in August after four consecutive months of moderation.

The official Purchasing Managers' Index, a comprehensive gauge of manufacturing activities across the country, rose to 50.9 percent last month, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said today.

It compared with the rate of 50.7 percent in July, which was a 29-month low that stayed close to the borderline of 50 percent – a line that separates expansion from contraction.

Zhang Liqun, an analyst with the federation, said the rebound of the index, though small, was a sign of a stabilizing economy.

"Risks of overheating has been ruled out and the economy has started to stabilize," Zhang said. "But there still exist uncertainties in external demand as new export orders fell the most among all component indices last month."

According to the federation, the new export orders index lost 2.1 percentage points from a month earlier to 48.3 percent in August as the debt crisis continued to spread in the United States and Europe.

Meanwhile, the HSBC China Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, which is slanted more towards private-owned and export-oriented firms, exhibited a similar change. It increased for the first time in three months to settle at 49.9 in August. The index, up from July's 49.3, still indicates a negligible rate of contraction.

"The HSBC reading is almost close to the break-even level," said Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC. "It confirms our view that China will only see growth moderation in the coming months, rather than a hard landing."