China Dec services PMI rebounds

The official Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for non-manufacturing sectors rebounded strongly to 56.0 from 49.7 in November, the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said on Tuesday.

Coupled with a slight expansion of PMI in the vast manufacturing sector in December, the index showed that the slowdown in the world’s number two economy may be modest, even though pro-growth policies were still expected.

“China’s services sector has returned to an expansion mode,” said CFLP Vice-President Cai Jin in a statement.

He noted that the retail sector was particularly strong in December because of the new year holiday.

The sub-index of new orders rose to 50.5 in December from 47.2 in the previous month.

The services PMI index is intended to provide a snapshot of conditions in the services sector, which accounts for less than 45 per cent of China’s economy, much less than in developed countries.