The services sector in China continued to expand in April, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from Caixin revealed on Friday with a services PMI score of 56.3.
That's up from 54.3 in March, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.
The faster upturn in business activity was linked to the successful containment of COVID-19 and a further improvement in demand conditions. Total new orders expanded at the fastest rate since last November and sharply overall. The steeper rise in sales was also supported by a renewed upturn in export work. New business from abroad rose solidly overall, after a two-month period of decline.
Firmer demand conditions led companies to raise their staffing levels for the second month running in April. Moreover, the rate of job creation was the fastest recorded for five months and solid.
Looking ahead, services companies in China were strongly optimistic that business activity would be higher than current levels in 12 months' time.
The report also showed that the composite index moved up to 54.7 from 53.1 in March.
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