"Economics" China January RatingDog Services PMI 52.3 beats forecast, fastest growth in three months

The latest PMI data shows that in January 2026, the RatingDog China General Services Business Activity Index recorded 52.3, higher than the market expectation of 52, indicating that China's service industry activity continues to expand. The latest index value is also higher than the 52 recorded in December 2025, reaching a three-month high.

During the period, the growth momentum of new business volume strengthened, with the growth rate of new orders accelerating for the first time in three months, generally due to the effectiveness of promotional activities that stimulated customer interest. At the same time, to some extent, it benefited from the launch of new products, and external demand recorded improvements twice in the past three months. New business volume continued to flow in, prompting employment levels to expand for the first time in six months.

In terms of prices, the average input costs in the service industry continued to rise at the beginning of the new year. Sample companies generally reported that rising procurement prices and fuel costs led to an overall increase in costs for the month. However, the cost increase for the month was relatively mild and slowed to the lowest level in five months. The overall selling prices in the service industry remained relatively stable during the month.

Overall, business confidence in January remained optimistic, with the industry hoping that business expansion plans and market improvements would help continue to drive sales growth and operational activity expansion in the coming year. However, the optimism level for the month was lower than the average for the entire year of 2025, with companies increasingly concerned about the global economic growth outlook