BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) - The purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's non-manufacturing sector came in at 53.5 in June, down from 55.2 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said Wednesday.

Passengers walk to board a high-speed train in Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, May 5, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua)

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while a reading below reflects contraction.

Expansion of the non-manufacturing sector continued to gather momentum but at a slower pace, said NBS senior statistician Zhao Qinghe.

In June, the sub-index for business activities in the services sector stood at 52.3, down 2 percentage points from that in May.

Boosted by the "618" online shopping festival, sectors including express delivery, telecommunications and satellite transmission, software and information technology saw their sub-indexes for business activities stay at above 57, indicating rapid growth of business volume in these areas.

Wednesday's data also showed that the PMI for China's manufacturing sector came in at 50.9 in June, slightly down from 51 in May.