The performance of China's non-manufacturing sector hit a three-month peak in November, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.

The country's Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, for the non-manufacturing sector increased by 0.1 point to 55.6 for the month, the bureau said.

A sales promotion activity at a department store in Beijing. A senior central bank official has said that the whole year's consumer infl ation could remain at the relatively low level of around 2.7 percent in 2012. [Photo by DA WEI / FOR CHINA DAILY]

Together with a rebound in manufacturing production, the increase will give the economy a boost either in the last quarter of 2012 or next year, according to analysts.

The official index registered 55.5 in October and 53.7 in September. A reading above 50 indicates business expansion and below 50 indicates contraction.

Banking and financial services company HSBC Holdings Plc also recently released its final reading for the country's November manufacturing PMI, saying the score stood at a 13-month high of 50.5 for the month, up from 49.5 in October. The rise resulted largely from an increase in business orders.

That marked the first time its figure has exceeded 50 since October 2011.

The HSBC reading was in line with the bureau's PMI figure for November, which was released on Saturday and showed a score of 50.6, up by 0.4 point from October. That marked the index's fourth consecutive monthly increase and the highest point it has reached in seven months.

The PMI's new order sub-index increased by 0.8 point from October to November's 51.2, hitting a seven-month high, and its new export orders sub-index moved back up above 50 for the first time in six months, the bureau said.

The Chinese economy is "on the mend" as both domestic and external demand continues to gain strength, said Yao Wei, China economist at Societe Generale SA.

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