In the latest sign that the Chinese economy is heading towards recovery, a leading independent research on Tuesday claimed that last month the activities in smaller manufacturing units in the country grew at the quickest pace seen over the past three years.

The Caixin Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) in December stood at 51.9, up from 50.9 clocked in November. The reading of 51.9 comfortably surpassed market expectations.

Like Us on Facebook

This was Caixin's highest score for China's manufacturing sector since December 2013. The financial magazine noted that all the economic parameters looked pretty robust last month.

"The Chinese manufacturing economy continued to improve in December, with the majority of sub-indices looking optimistic," Caixin analyst Zhong Zhengsheng said in a statement. 

The financial magazine claims that the good showing in December was due to robust demand and increase in new clients for Chinese manufacturers.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government on Sunday released the official purchasing managers' index (PMI), which usually takes into account activities in larger factories and mines. The official PMI for the month of December stood at 51.4, down from 51.7 shown in the last month.

Nonetheless, the reading of 51.4 signified growth for the fifth consecutive month for manufacturing sector on a year-on-year basis.

China's manufacturing sector has been stagnating ever since a recession took over the world's second largest economy. Tepid domestic demand coupled with dull global export market severely affected the sentiments across Chinese factories over the last one year.

Many economists have described the on-going recession as the worst that the Asian giant has seen over the last two decades.      

TagsChina Caxin PMI, China Manufacturing PMI, china, China manufacturing, Chinese Economy