BEIJING - CHINA'S manufacturing expanded in June, adding to signs the world's third-largest economy is rebounding from the collapse in global trade, but few new jobs were created, according to two surveys released on Wednesday.

Brokerage CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets said its purchasing managers index rose to 51.8 from May's 51.2 on a 100-point scale where numbers above 50 show activity expanding. The state-sanctioned China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said its own PMI edged up slightly to 53.2 from May's 53.1.

'This PMI indicates the economy is midway through a recovery, despite some slowdown in infrastructure momentum,' Credit Suisse economist Dong Tao said in a report.

The PMI is seen by economists as a better measure of China's economic outlook than data such as gross domestic product because it includes forward-looking elements such as new and export orders.

CLSA's index is based on a monthly survey of some 400 companies, while the Chinese federation surveys some 700 companies.

The figures add to mounting signs Beijing's 4 trillion yuan ($S849 billion) stimulus is starting to show results, boosting domestic demand to offset lacklustre exports. Consumer spending, auto sales, bank lending and investment also are up.

The World Bank raised its 2009 growth forecast for China last month from 6.5 per cent to 7.2 per cent due to the stimulus-driven investment boom. Private sector economists also have raised growth forecasts and say China is likely to be the first major economy to emerge from the world's worst downturn since the 1930s.

CLSA's measure of manufacturing output rose 53.7 in June from May's 52.5, while the Chinese federation's rose 0.2 points to 57.1.

CLSA said its measure of export orders rose for the first time in 11 months to 50.9 in June, showing activity expanding slightly following a record contraction in global consumer demand.

Beijing's stimulus is aimed at pumping money into the economy through higher spending on construction of highways and other public works. Most of the money has gone to state-owned construction companies and suppliers of steel and cement but some has begun to reach the private sector as they buy materials and hire workers. -- AP