BEIJING — The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 53.2 in September, up from 47.5 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Sept 30.

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

Business activities in the non-manufacturing sector have recovered swiftly, especially for the service sector, according to NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe.

In September, the sub-index for business activities in the services sector stood at 52.4, up 7.2 percentage points from that in August.

Sectors such as transportation, accommodation and catering, which were hit by the epidemic last month, recorded marked improvement in September. Their sub-indexes for business activities were in the expansionary zone, according to the NBS.

The data on Sept 30 also showed that the PMI for China's manufacturing sector came in at 49.6 in September, edging down from 50.1 in August.