a private gauge of chinas servicesector activity improved in december but stayed in contraction territory as covid19 infections swept the country after an abrupt reopening during the month the caixin services purchasing managers index rose to 480 in december from 467 in november caixin media co and sp global said thursday it was the fourth straight month that the index stayed below the 50 mark which separates expansion from contraction total new orders decreased for the fourth consecutive month in december but at a slower pace than in november while new export orders declined for the second time in three months according to caixin caixin said the employment subindex continued to deteriorate in december with workers leaving their jobs and businesses cutting staff to contain costs however a subindex measuring expectations for future activity rose nearly four points from november logging the highest reading since may 2021 caixin said optimism improved significantly service providers expressed strong confidence in an economic recovery following the easing of covid containment measures said wang zhe a senior economist at caixin insight group beijing eased most of its covidrelated controls in december which had been the biggest constraint for businesses especially the closecontact service sector during the pandemic years however the reversal of covid rules also resulted in widespread outbreaks across the country disrupting business and consumer spending a competing official gauge painted a different picture of the service sector in december chinas official nonmanufacturing pmi which covers servicesector and construction activity plunged to 416 from 467 in november the index was weighed mainly by the service sector which fell to 394 in december from novembers 451 according to data released last week by the national bureau of statistics compared with the caixin pmis the official gauges track more big companies and sample a larger number of respondents compared with caixin the two sets of data often point in different directions as the operating environment may differ for companies with different sizes