China's manufacturing growth continued to rise in April, fresh evidence of better performance in the manufacturing sector, official data showed on May 1.

The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector rose to 50.4 in April, up from 50.3 in March, according to data jointly released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).

This is the second consecutive monthly uptick of the widely monitored data. The index began to climb in March after three months of declines.

A reading below 50 indicates contraction, while above 50 signals expansion.

The latest PMI index shows that China's market demand is improving, but the momentum of the recovery is not strong, said Zhao Qinghe, a senior analyst with the NBS.

The PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector rose to 54.8 in April, up 0.3 percentage points from March.

CFLP Vice Chairman Cai Jin attributed the rebound to the warming of the tertiary industry and the recovering market demand against the backdrop of China's economic growth having shown signs of stabilizing after an array of grim indicators at the beginning of the year.

The logistics-related industries have picked up pace, while the wholesale and retail sectors were revitalized, Cai said, noting that the dynamic activity, along with the mild change in price index, will contribute to stable economic growth.