BEIJING - The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector came in at 52.1 in November, up from 51.4 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.

The November PMI, the highest seen this year, marked the ninth consecutive month of expansion, data from the NBS showed

The November PMI, the highest seen this year, marked the ninth consecutive month of expansion, data from the NBS showed.

The rise in November, together with improvements in all sub-indexes, indica

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The new export order and import sub-indexes climbed to 51.5 and 50.9 in November, up 0.5 points and 0.1 points, respectively, from the previous month.

Both new export order and import sub-indexes hit a year-high in November and stayed in the expansion territory for three consecutive months, according to Zhao.

Non-manufacturing PMI

The PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector also picked up in November to reach 56.4, up from 56.2 in October, the NBS said.

The non-manufacturing PMI has remained above 50 for nine consecutive months, according to NBS data

The non-manufacturing PMI has remained above 50 for nine consecutive months, according to NBS data.

In November, the service sector continued to accelerate its pace of recovery, with the sub-index for business activities expanding to 55.7 from 55.5 in the previous month.

Thanks to the country's targeted and timely measures against COVID-19, the consumer market recovered in an orderly manner, and the service sector rebounded steadily, said Zhao.

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A breakdown of the data showed the sub-indexes for business activities of rail transportation, civil aviation and finance remained above 60. Bucking the trend, the sub-indexes for the business activities of property development, ecological protection and environmental management fell below 50 in November, Zhao said.

Meanwhile, the sub-index tracking business activity expectations hit 61.1, remaining above 61 for the fifth consecutive month, signaling optimism among most service enterprises about the development of the industry.

The construction industry also continued its robust growth, as the sub-index for business activities stood at 60.5, up from 59.8 in October.

China has taken multi-pronged measures to mitigate economic fallout from COVID-19. Building on earlier efforts to advance the resumption of production, the country has ramped up tax and fee reductions and provided firms with low-cost loans to help them tide over difficulties.