China's manufacturing activity expanded again in February as strong foreign demand pushed up overall new orders, despite concerns over trade protectionism measures from the U.S. administration.

The Caixin factory Purchasing Managers' Index improved unexpectedly to 51.7 in February from 51.0 in January, according to a private survey from IHS Markit, released Wednesday. The reading was forecast to drop to 50.8. A score above 50 indicates expansion in the sector.

The survey suggested an improvement in overall business conditions for the sixth month in a row and the latest growth was the joint-second strongest for just over four years.

The official manufacturing PMI climbed to 51.6 from 51.3 a month ago, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed. The score was also above the expected level of 51.2. Meanwhile, the non-manufacturing PMI dropped to 54.2 from 54.6.

Today's PMIs suggest that growth remains reasonably strong by recent standards, Julian Evans-Pritchard, a China economist at Capital Economics, said.

But this largely comes on the back of stronger external demand which is unlikely to be sustained, the economist added.

IHS Markit survey showed that production expanded at a faster pace compared to January, but the rate of growth was moderate overall and below those seen through the final quarter of 2016.

Supporting higher production was a further rise in total new business. The upturn in new work was partly driven by stronger growth in new export sales. Furthermore, new orders from abroad increased at the quickest pace since September 2014.

Nonetheless, companies continued to report lower staff numbers in February, as has been in each month since November 2013. That said, the rate of job shedding was the slowest seen for two years.

Average input costs rose sharply in February despite the rate of inflation easing to a four-month low. According to respondents, higher raw material costs were the key driver of inflationary pressures.

In order to protect their margins, manufacturers increased their output charges again at a solid pace.

Further, the survey showed that optimism towards the one-year business outlook reached a 21-month peak in February. Confidence was generally linked to new product developments and improving market conditions.

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