China's non-manufacturing PMI up in September

Visitors look at a sand table model of the Workers' Stadium in engineering consulting and construction services exhibition hall during the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 4, 2021. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua)

BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 53.2 in September, up from 47.5 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below it reflects contraction.

Business activities in the non-manufacturing sector have recovered swiftly, especially for the service sector, according to NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe.

In September, the sub-index for business activities in the services sector stood at 52.4, up 7.2 percentage points from that in August.

Sectors such as transportation, accommodation and catering, which were hit by the epidemic last month, recorded marked improvement in September. Their sub-indexes for business activities were in the expansionary zone, according to the NBS.

Thursday's data also showed that the PMI for China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.6 in September, edging down from 50.1 in August.