Chinese service sector recovered in March

A survey of the private sector today showed that the service purchasing managers' index in China rose to 54.3 points in March, compared to 51.5 points in February, the highest level since last December with the rise in hiring operations.

Chinese service companies were very optimistic about the coming year as business expectations rose to their highest level since 2011 even though the service sector was more vulnerable to restrictions on social distancing than the industrial sector.

The data also showed that the composite PMI, which combines the industrial and service sectors in China, rose to 53.1 points in March, compared to 51.7 points in February.