A preliminary reading of HSBC China Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), a main gauge of the country's manufacturing activities, hit a two-year high in January, driven by rising orders, HSBC said Tuesday.

The flash PMI issued by HSBC Holdings rose for the sixth consecutive month to 51.9 from August's print of 47.6.

The PMI, the earliest preview of China's economic health in 2013, is an "improvement" that heralds good start to the New Year," said Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC in a statement on Thusday.

"This was driven mainly by faster production growth, which was backed by continuous gains in new business inflows, additional hiring and faster purchase activity. Despite still tepid external demand, China's domestic-driven restocking process is starting and should add further steam to its ongoing recovery in the coming months," he said.

New orders stood at 52.7 in January, slightly down from last December, but remained the second high since April, 2011. The flash reading of manufacturing output also recorded the highest level in 22 months, at 52.2.

Analysts are cautiously optimistic about China's economic prospect this year, although the jump in exports, alongside generous government helped to pull China's economy out of its worst downturn in three years between October and December to grow 7.9 percent from a year earlier, Reuters said.

A Reuters poll this week showed analysts predict China's annual economic growth would rebound a shade to 8.1 percent this year.