BEIJING, April 11 -- The volume of freight carried on China's railways dropped during the January-March period as economic activity remained subdued, official data showed on Monday.

Railways transported 788 million tonnes of cargo in the first quarter of 2016, down 9.43 percent year on year, according to data from China Railway Corporation.

Dragged by a housing slowdown, softening domestic demand and unsteady exports, China's economy expanded 6.9 percent year on year in 2015, the weakest reading in around a quarter of a century.

With China's pro-growth fiscal and credit policy gradually sinking in, the economy is showing increasing signs of stabilizing. The official purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector came in at 50.2 in March, up from February's 49 to its highest level since August.

An earlier report by government think tank the National Academy of Economic Strategy forecast the economy to expand by around 6.7 percent in the first quarter before gradually stabilizing in the second quarter to around 6.8 percent.