China's manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace in nineteen months in December, the HSBC Purchasing Managers' Survey revealed.

Providing a big boost to optimism that the economic recovery is gaining traction, the survey said the final reading of a Purchasing Managers' Index was at 51.5 in December, the highest since May 2011.

That is quite more impressive than the 50.9 preliminary reading recorded on December 14 and a final reading of 50.5 in November. It may be noted here that a reading of above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading of below 50 indicates contraction.

A sub-index tracking new orders is even more encouraging. It jumped even higher to settle at 52.9, its highest level since January last year.

Commenting on the findings, HSBC Chief Economist (China) Hongbin Qu said, "Such a momentum is likely to be sustained in the coming months when infrastructure construction runs into full speed and property market conditions stabilize."

The benchmark Shanghai composite stocks index gained 0.8 per cent as of 11:04am local time, set to enjoy the first annual gain in around three years.

The abovementioned figures suggest that the world's second biggest economy may have rebounded following suffering slowdown for seven months as the government hiked spending on infrastructure and sped up the process of approving investment-projects.