China’s Non-manufacturing Sector PMI Rises to 58.4% in March

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Apr. 5 – China’s Purchasing Managers’ Index of the non-manufacturing sector rose to 58.4 percent in March, a increase of 12 percentage points from February, when the index fell below the boom-bust line of 50 percent for the first time in a year, an industrial association said on Saturday.

The PMI, which provides a real-time snapshot of business conditions, includes a package of indices including new orders, inventory levels, production and others that measure economic performance. Above 50 percent suggests expansion, while below 50 percent indicates contraction.

The rise of the index indicated robust market activities in service sectors, which combined with an optimistic outlook that would encourage private investment and promote healthy and coordinated development of national economy, Cai Jin, the vice president for China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, told Chinese state media.

According to the CFLP survey, index climbed to 54.6 percent last month, up 8.4 percentage points than February. The outlook sub-index was 70.4 percent, up 2.4 percentage points.

The CFLP survey covers 20 non-manufacturing industries, including logistics, wholesale, hospitality, supermarkets and construction.