Transport and retail sectors lift service PMI (2)

The new order sub-index shed 0.6 percentage point to 53.7 percent, and the construction sub-index dipped 0.5 percentage point to 56.7 percent in January.

The fastest gainer among the five sub-indices, the sub-index of intermediate input prices climbed for the second month by rising 4.4 percentage points monthly to 58.2 percent.

The contribution of services to the economy has grown over the past decade as rising incomes have spurred demand for televisions, housing, mobile phones and travel. Almost 36 percent of the working population was employed in such industries in 2011, up from 31.3 percent in 2005, government data show.

The services industries accounted for 45 percent of gross domestic product last year, Ma Jiantang, head of the statistics bureau, said on January 18, up from 41 percent in 2003. The government is seeking to increase the share to 47 percent by 2015.

The services industry has so far weathered the global slowdown better than the factory sector, with the PMI consistently signalling healthy expansion and hitting a 10-month high of 58.0 in March.

That is partly due to a maturing economy as well as a historic shift in the last decade leading a majority of Chinese to live and work in cities rather than the countryside.

The non-manufacturing PMI is based on responses from purchasing managers at 1,200 companies in 27 industries including banking, retailing, construction and transport. A new seasonally adjusted series of the gauge began in March 2012 and the data were revised back to March 2011.

Agencies/Shanghai Daily