China Dec official non-manufacturing PMI up

China's economy ended the year on a high note, with signs of growth. The official purchasing managers' index for China's non-manufacturing sector rose to a four-month high of 56.1 in December, from 55.6 in November.

The services sector index follows twin manufacturing PMI surveys released earlier this week that showed China's economic growth saw a revival at the end of the year.

China non-manufacturing activity rose in December last year over the previous month, easing concerns over a slowdown in the world's second largest economy.

Figures released jointly by National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing show China's non-manufacturing PMI crept up half a point to reach 56.1 in December compared with November. Any reading above 50 indicates growth.

Breaking down the number, the new-orders sub-index hit a 12-month high of 54.3 in December, up 1.1 points compared with November. New export orders also climbed 1.7 points month-on-month to reach 52.5 in December.

Cai Jin, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing, said in a statement that "these figures show that China's non-manufacturing activity continued its recovery trend in December. The rise of the service activity further strengthens the contribution of the domestic consumption to the overall economic growth."

Putting it into perspective, the biggest driver for the non-manufacturing PMI increase was a jump in the measure of China's construction services. It climbed from 61.3 in November to 61.9 in December. It points to the accelerating growth of China's infrastructure sector as investment in the sector.

Meanwhile, China's property activity recorded higher year-on-year figure at 50.2 in December. But it fell 5.1 points compared with last month.

Zhang Liqun, research fellow at the Development Research Center, State Council, said, "Looking into China's domestic demand, including consumption and investment, a solid foundation had been laid after they have got back on track. But the government should maintain property market policies to keep stable growth of the sector. And from a long-term view, it should also ensure stable growth of investment in the infrastructure sector."

Figures also show that 19 sectors including postal services, internet, IT, and retail sales recorded positive growth last month. However, sectors such as public facilities services, transport and rental services witnessed a slight slump in December.