China's non-manufacturing sector continues to maintain expansion in April

China's composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) in April stood at 54.4, which continued to maintain expansion, indicating that enterprise production and business activities continue to recover and develop, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Global Times reported.

In April, the non-manufacturing business activity index was 56. Although the figure dropped 1.8 percentage points from March, it was still above the 50-point mark that separates expansion and contraction, indicating that the non-manufacturing sector maintained high-level growth, according to Global Times.

The demand of face-to-face service industries saw a spike, driven by holiday consumption from the Spring Festival holidays in January, the Qingming Festival holidays in early April and the ongoing May Day holidays, NBS noted.

The transportation sector has remained active due to tourism demand. The index of new orders in the air transport industry rose for three consecutive months and remained above 70 per cent. The index for new orders in the rail transportation sector remained above 63 per cent for the second consecutive month, the NBS said on Sunday.

According to Global Times, the catering, accommodation and recreation-related activities that directly reflect holiday consumption demand showed sustained momentum in both supply and demand. The business activity index and the new order index of the above industries all increased compared with March, and both remained at a high level of more than 55 per cent.