Pay system, e-commerce a good measure of spending

Editor's Note: As of today, China Daily is running a series of news analysis articles on the macro-economic policies that will help the country change from an export-led economy to one driven primarily by consumer spending. The following is the first in the series.

Transaction data from China UnionPay and Alibaba could be used as a gauge for the strength of China's expanding service and consumption sector, economists said, as traditional indicators become increasingly irrelevant.

UnionPay handles transactions for almost all of the nation's bank cards, while Alibaba runs the country's largest online sales platform. An index developed by Alibaba showed consumer prices in August quickening more than the government's official reading, while the Tsinghua-UnionPay Advisors Indices of spending at luxury hotels in China rose to a record in August. Both contrast with the Caixin Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index, which slid to 47.2 in September - signaling a contraction in the sector - the lowest since March 2009.