BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's non-manufacturing sector eased pace in February but remained within the expansion range.

The non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index came in at 54.3 this month, down from 54.7 in January, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on Thursday.

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

Indices for sectors including railway and air transport, telecom, banking and leasing stood above 55, indicating robust business growth.

Real estate business eased further with the sub-index remaining below the boom-or-bust line.

Market sentiment is improving as sub-indices for new orders and business expectation picked up by 0.3 and 1.8 percentage points respectively from January, indicating growing service demands, the statement said.

The construction sector saw its activities shrink due to the Spring Festival holiday and bad weather, but is likely to pick up pace in the future as data showed rising business expectation.