China Official Nonmanufacturing PMI 55.3 in Jan Vs 55.0 in Dec

China's official nonmanufacturing purchasing managers index, a measure of activity outside factory gates, edged up to 55.3 in January from 55.0 in December, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

A reading above 50 indicates an expansion, while a figure below that level indicates a contraction.

The subindex measuring business activities for the service sector increased to 54.4 from 53.4. The new-orders subindex for the entire nonmanufacturing sector edged down to 51.9 in January from 52.0 in the previous month.

The official manufacturing PMI, also released on Wednesday, fell to 51.3 in January from 51.6 in December.

The nonmanufacturing PMI covers services such as retail, aviation and software as well as the real-estate and construction sectors. Data are based on replies to monthly questionnaires sent to purchasing executives at 4,000 companies in 27 nonmanufacturing sectors.

The China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing issues the data together with the National Bureau of Statistics.

Write to Liyan Qi at liyan.qi@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 30, 2018 20:35 ET (01:35 GMT)