An index measuring non-manufacturing business activity in China posted a seasonally adjusted score of 54.6 in December, the latest survey from the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing revealed on Friday.
The headline figure remains comfortably above the boom-or-bust score of 50 that separates expansion from contraction, although the December reading is down sharply from 56.0 in November.
Among the individual components, services business activity came in at 52.5 - down from 54.1 in the previous month.
Key expansionary factors included software, postal, telecommunications and retail, while lodging, environmental and food services were down. The construction business activity index was 62.6 percent, down from 63.5 percent a month earlier.
The new orders index was unchanged from last month at 51.0.
New orders were up for software services, postal, telecommunications and warehousing, while they were down for environmental, leasing and catering services. The new orders index for construction was 55.9, up from 53.8 in November.
The intermediate input price index was at 56.9, up from 54.8 in the previous month. The services intermediate input price index came in at 57.6, up from 54.5 a month earlier.
The construction intermediate input price index was at 53.9, down from 56.3 in November as the construction of production and operation costs continue to rise, the statistics bureau noted.
The price paid index was at 52.0, up from 49.5 in the previous month - indicating that non-manufacturing enterprises selling price charged by the fall or rise, the CFLP said.
The services prices charged index was 52.3, up sharply from 48.8 in November on gains from wholesale trade, retail trade, information technology, software services, ecological protection and environmental governance.
The construction price index for charges came in at 50.9, down from 49.4 a month earlier.
The index for expected business activity was at 58.7 - down from 61.3 in November, the market expected a decline among non-manufacturing businesses over the next three months.
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