After months of negative economic data, China finally saw a glimmer of hope in its services sector, which posted an 11-month high in July, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The country’s services sector continued to rally in July, with the Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index coming in at 53.8 in the month, from 51.8 in June.
The continued rise in China’s service sector was attributed to the rising business volumes and solid new order growth.
The Xinhua report stated:
The Caixin China Composite PMI data, which covers both manufacturing and services, signalled a further increase in activity during July, but the Composite Output Index posted only fractionally above the neutral 50.0 mark at 50.2, the weakest rate of expansion in 14 months.
The July figure was the highest reading of China’s services PMI since August 2014, the CNBC has reported.
The figure, which was well above the 50-mark separating contraction from growth, was in sharp contract to the weak China manufacturing PMI.
In a statement that accompanied the release of the data, Caixin and Markit said the stronger rise in China’s service sector activity was supported by a further rise in new business volumes in July. – BusinessNewsAsia.com