Chinese manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest rate on record in December and the recovery among European manufacturers, led by Britain, gathered pace, according to key surveys on Monday. Major economies have been mired in a deep global recession but stimulus-fuelled economies in Asia, notably China, have been recovering rapidly since around the middle of last year, leading the worldwide rebound from the global crisis. In China, the HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 56.1 from 55.7 a month earlier to reach its highest level since the survey began in April 2004. Data due from the United States at 1500 GMT are also expected to show a pick up in activity there. The CIPS/Markit PMI for the UK, still stuck in recession, hit a 25-month high of 54.1 last month, smashing forecasts for a rise to 52.0, while the 16-nation euro zone saw output expand at its fastest pace in 27 months. Euro zone growth was boosted by activity in Germany, the bloc's biggest economy, which expanded at its fastest pace since May 2008, while activity in France and Italy also ticked up from November, underlining the region's escape from a deep recession. A reading above 50 indicates manufacturing activity is expanding, while a level below 50 suggests contraction. The euro zone broke out of recession in the third quarter of last year, although how sustainable the recovery is remains in doubt given still falling investment and high unemployment. Manufacturing activity hit a seven-month peak in India last month and it also rose in South Korea, where factories added the most jobs in nearly two years, PMIs showed on Monday. Growth in Japan's manufacturing activity picked up for the first time in three months in December and upbeat export orders from China are likely to continue lifting production, a Nomura/JMMA survey showed last week. By contrast, Russia's PMI fell to 48.8, the lowest in five months, from 49.1 in November.
