BEIJING — The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 47.8 in May, up from 41.9 in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on May 31.

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

Domestic COVID-19 infections have steadily declined in May, leading to the recovery of the service sector, NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe said.

The subindex for the service sector stood at 47.1 in May, up from 40 in April, NBS data showed.

Among the 21 sectors surveyed, industries including retail, railway and air transportation were in the expansion territory, Zhao said.

The new order index for the non-manufacturing sector stood at 44.1 in May, up from 37.4 in April, indicating rising demand in the market.

The construction sector has continued expansion, but the sub-index for the sector was down 0.5 percentage points from April to 52.2 in May.

Confidence in the market has increased for most non-manufacturing firms, with the sub-index measuring business activity expectations rising 2 percentage points from April to 55.6 in May.

The data also showed that the PMI for the manufacturing sector came in at 49.6 in May, up from 47.4 in April.