An express worker processes packages at a delivery station in Qinhuangdao, Hebei province, on Feb 24. (Photo: China Daily)

BEIJING - China's logistics activities gained recovery momentum in May as reopening of businesses gathered more steam amid further containment of COVID-19, industry data showed.

The logistics performance index for May came in at 54.8 percent, up 1.2 percentage points month-on-month, according to data released by the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP).

The composite index tracks business volumes, new orders, employment, inventory turnover and equipment utility rates in China's logistics sector. A reading above 50 percent indicates expansion, while a reading below that reflects contraction.

He Hui, director of the China Logistics Information Center, noted that the logistics sector continued to steadily expand as the upstream and downstream supply chains were gradually restored.

The sub-indices for new orders rose by 0.2 percentage points month on month to reach 54.2 percent as pent-up demand was unleashed amid containment of the epidemic, the data showed.