Deliverymen pick up food packages at a restaurant in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. CHINA DAILY
China's services activity expanded at a faster pace in May, according to the latest RatingDog China General Services Purchasing Managers' Index, which points to robust growth in new business and a rebound in overseas demand, despite uncertainties from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
Analysts said the upbeat figures of the private survey released on Wednesday — as well as a further pickup in business confidence — point to stronger momentum in China's services sector amid intensified policy efforts to "expand capacity and improve the quality of the sector".
Their remarks came as the reading, compiled by S&P Global, rose 1.8 percentage points to 54.4 in May from 52.6 in April, remaining above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction and signaling the fastest pace of expansion in three months.
This was broadly in line with the official survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday, which showed services activity returning to expansion at 50.3 in May from 49.6 in April. Compared with the official gauge, the RatingDog PMI tracks small, export-oriented companies more closely.
