China’s services sector remained strong in September due to continued recovery in domestic supply, demand
- The Caixin/Markit services purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which focuses on smaller, private firms, rose to 54.8 in September from 54.0 in August
- The official non-manufacturing PMI, released by the National Bureau of Statistics last week, was 55.9 in September, up from 55.2 for August
A continued recovery in domestic supply and demand saw sentiment within China’s services sector remain positive for a fifth consecutive month in September, a new survey released on Friday showed.
This was above the median expectation in a Bloomberg survey for a reading of 54.3, with the rate of expansion the sharpest for three months and among the quickest recorded over the past decade.
A reading above 50.0 indicates growth in sector activity, while a reading below indicates contraction.
The services sector‘s post-epidemic recovery showed signs of speeding up
“The services sector‘s post-epidemic recovery showed signs of speeding up,” said Wang Zhe, senior economist at Caixin Insight Group.
“Domestic supply and demand in the services sector continued to recover at a faster pace, while overseas demand remained subdued. Both the business activity index and total new business expanded for the fifth straight month, and at a faster pace than the previous month, causing the gauge for outstanding business to break back into expansionary territory. Uncertainties about the pandemic overseas continued to drag down total demand, with the measure for new export business remaining in contractionary territory for seven of the last eight months.
