The numbers mean China's economy entered 2013 with solid growth momentum but that quarter-on-quarter economic growth is likely to moderate somewhat in the first half of 2013 after a strong showing at the end of 2012, Kuijs said.

China's growth quickened to 7.9 percent year on year in the fourth quarter of 2012, ending a seven-quarter downshift that was caused by weak external demand and cooling property investment.

Kuijs said he expects the country's economy to expand 8.4 percent in 2013 and does not expect much of a slowdown in the second half of the year, as the global economy will likely improve by then.

The official PMI figure, based on a survey of purchasing managers from 3,000 companies in 21 industries, diverged from the HSBC's flash PMI reading issued last week.

The PMI for China's manufacturing sector climbed to 51.9 percent in January, marking a two-year high, according to the bank.

The NBS and CFLP figures show that the PMI sub-index for production slipped 0.7 percentage points from a month earlier to 51.3 percent in January.

The new orders sub-index rose 0.4 percentage percentage points to 51.6 percent, its highest level since May 2012.

The sub-index for raw material inventories climbed 2.8 percentage points to 50.1 percent, going above 50 percent for the first time since May 2011.

The employment sub-index declined 1.2 percentage points to 47.8 percent. The figure has come out to less than 50 percent for eight consecutive months, indicating that enterprises are continuing to cut jobs.

The PMI sub-index for large companies went up 0.2 percentage points to 51.3 percent, while that for small firms decreased 0.2 percentage points to 49.7 percent and that for medium-sized ones slid 1.9 percentage points to 46.2 percent, according to official data.

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