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(Yicai Global) Jan. 6 -- Caixin's purchasing managers' index for China's general services sector slipped 1 point to 52.5 in December, missing forecasts after hitting a half-year high just a month earlier.
The figure fell 0.9 point short of predictions but still exceeds the 50 point threshold separating expansion and contraction.
China has two main PMIs. The official index, run by the National Bureau of Statistics, tracks 3,000 companies of which many are large and state-backed. The Caixin PMI, also known as the Caixin-Markit PMI, surveys 500 businesses that are typically smaller and privately owned.