A kitten is recovering in California after surviving a 6,500-mile journey across the Pacific stowed away inside a Chinese shipping container.

Ni Hao, a ginger and white kitten, was discovered breathing shallowly in a limp ball after a two-week trip across the Pacific Ocean.

The three-month-old feline was severely dehydrated and suffering from starvation when the container from Shanghai was opened in California last week, but was said to be doing well after being transferred to the Carson Animal Care Center in Los Angeles.

At first he was too weak to stand, but the short-haired kitten is finally taking its first steps.

"Ni Hao greeted the medical team with his first miaow this morning and is attempting to stand," said Marcia Mayeda, head of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control.

Aaron Reyes, deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control, added: "We finally got to hear his voice. It sounds like a sputtering single-engine plane."

Ni Hao, which means Hello in Mandarin, is expected to remain in quarantine for 60 days but afterwards animal workers will look to placing him with a foster family.

"It's much better for him to recover in a home environment," Mr Reyes said. "It's just like a human being in a hospital so we're hoping to move him."

He added: "Little by little we're getting there. We're hoping that under the treatment of our med team and with rest, he'll be able to continue to recover quickly." It was not immediately clear how the kitten got into the container.