China's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) of the non-manufacturing sector rose to 58.4 percent in March, a rebound of12 percentage points from February, when the index fell below the boom-bust line of 50 percent for the first time since a year earlier, an industrial association said Saturday.

The PMI, designed to provide a real-time snapshot of business conditions, includes a package of indices including new orders, inventory levels, production and others that measure economic performance. A reading of above 50 percent suggests expansion, while one below 50 percent indicates contraction.

The rise of the index indicated robust market activities in service sectors, which combined with an optimistic outlook that would encourage private investment and promote healthy and coordinated development of national economy, said the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) vice president Cai Jin.

According to the CFLP survey, the new order sub-index for China's non-manufacturing sector climbed to 54.6 percent last month, up 8.4 percentage points than February. The outlook sub-index was 70.4 percent, up 2.4 percentage points.

The CFLP survey covers 20 non-manufacturing industries, including logistics, wholesale, hospitality, supermarkets and construction.

The PMI for manufacturing sectors rose to 55.1 percent in March, the 13th straight month that the index was above 50 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2010)