BEIJING - China's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), a preliminary readout of the country's manufacturing activity, rose to 50.5 percent in January of 2012, the highest level since October, indicating that a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy may be stabilizing.

The country's PMI stood at 50.3 percent in December, 49 percent in November and 50.4 percent in October, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said Wednesday in a statement on its website.

A PMI reading of 50 percent demarcates expansion from contraction.

The CFLP's sub-index for new orders hit 50.4 percent in January, up 0.6percentage points from December, suggesting that the week-long Spring Festival holiday helped boost the country's domestic consumption.

The sub-index for purchase prices rose 2.9 percentage points from December to 50 percent in January.

Last month, nine industries, including tobacco and beverage manufacturing, agricultural food processing and food production, enjoyed a PMI of over 50 percent, while sectors including wood processing and furniture manufacturing registered under 50 percent, according to the statement.

The CFLP's PMI is based on a survey of purchasing managers in 820 companies in 20 industries.

However, China plans to expand the sample size for measuring the PMI from the current 820 companies to around 3,000 companies, the National Bureau of Statistics and the CFLP said Tuesday at a news briefing, without giving a specific timetable for the changes.