A Higher China Services PMI in March Driven by Construction

China’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector rose to 55.6 in March from 54.5 in February, adding to signs of a modest uptick in the world’s second-largest economy.

The move higher was driven by activity in the construction sector, whose sub-index jumped 4.5 points from February to 62.5 in March, according to the survey from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The construction industry has been a major beneficiary of government infrastructure spending, with about $150 billion worth of projects given the green light in 2012 as part of an effort to engineer a rebound in economic activity as GDP growth slowed last year to a 13-year low of 7.8 percent.

CNBC

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