Economic activity remained robust in China during September on the back of good domestic demand, with manufacturing showing resurgence. The Caixin China Composite PMI rose for the third consecutive month to 51.9 in September, signaling the strongest economic expansion since April. The index stood at 51.6 in August. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion while one below that shows contraction. The rise in the composite PMI was attributed to improved operating conditions in the manufacturing sector, as data pointed to a softer growth in business activity across the service sector. The Caixin/Markit manufacturing PMI went up from 50.4 in August to 51.4 in September, the highest since February 2018, as domestic demand recovered, boosting output and new orders. Meanwhile, the services PMI fell to 51.3 last month, versus 52.1 in August.

The composite new orders subindex rose at the steepest rate since February 2018 last month, with both manufacturers and services providers recording stronger new order growth. Faster new orders growth boosted job creation in the services sector, leading to the fastest payroll growth since January 2013 at the composite level. Official PMI data delivered a similar picture of quickened business activity, as the manufacturing PMI rose to a five-month high of 49.8 in September, versus 49.5 a month earlier. The non-manufacturing PMI edged down to 53.7 last month from 53.8 in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

“If short-term factors have played a minor role in the pickup, and if the Sino-U.S. trade friction sees no major escalation but progresses toward a resolution, then last month would be the dawn of a major economic recovery,” said Yang Weiyong, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) pledged to maintain a prudent monetary policy that is neither too loose nor tight and to stick with market-oriented reforms to considerably reduce real interest rates.

China’s tourism sector was booming during the seven-day holiday from October 1 to 7. Domestic attractions saw about 782 million visits during the holiday, up 7.81% year-on-year, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced. Tourists’ spending during the holiday reached nearly CNY650 billion, an increase of 8.47% from the previous year. The Ministry of Commerce said that the combined sales of the retail and catering industries nationwide reached CNY1.52 trillion during the holiday, up 8.5% year-on-year. E-commerce firm JD said revenues from outdoor sports products surged 412% year-on-year between October 1 and 4, while sales of video content and games soared 183% from the same period last year. Spending on smartphones and electronic devices increased 90%.

Chinese foreign exchange reserves, the world’s largest, remained above the USD3 trillion mark by the end of the third quarter, indicating balanced capital inflows and outflows. The reserves reached USD3.092 trillion at the end of September, up 0.6% or USD19.7 billion from the beginning of this year. Wang Chunying, Spokesperson and Chief Economist of SAFE, said China’s economic resilience and sound growth momentum has helped keep foreign exchange reserves on an even keel.

China is by far the best performer among the five BRICS economies in terms of competitiveness, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said in the 2019 Global Competitiveness Report assessing the productivity and long-term growth of 141 economies. China ranks 28th among the world economies, 15 places ahead of the Russia, 32 places ahead of South Africa and some 40 places ahead of both India and Brazil. China’s position in the ranking was unchanged from last year, but its overall score increased by 1.3 points. In ICT adoption, China outperformed 25 of the 36 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). With a score of 84.8, Singapore took the crown of the world’s most competitive economy this year from the United States.