China June services PMI rises to 53.8 from 53.2 in May

[BEIJING] Growth in China's services industry quickened in June, an official survey showed on Wednesday, adding to signs of improvement in the world's second-largest economy.

The non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 53.8 from May's 53.2, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its website.

A reading above 50 points indicates growth on a monthly basis, while one below that points to contraction.

Growth in China's services companies has been more resilient than at its ailing factories, but the sector had shown signs of succumbing to the broader economic cooldown in recent months.

Still, many analysts expect China's economic growth to slow to 7 per cent this year, the weakest rate of expansion that the country has seen in a quarter of a century.

REUTERS