BEIJING - China's transportation industry has expanded steadily in September as an index measuring the vitality of the sector remained at a high level, according to the China Academy of Transportation Sciences.

The China Transportation Services Index (CTSI) stood at 175.7 points last month, up 4.3 percent year-on-year, as the travel demand maintained strong during the July-August period.

The index incorporated the transport volume of passenger and cargo of various transportation means such as railway, highway, waterway and civil aviation.

With 2010 as the base year and 100 points as the base points, the CTSI includes passenger transport and cargo transport as two sub-indexes.

The index for passenger transport rose 2.4 percent to 166.4 points last month, while that for cargo transport stood at 181 points, up 5.3 percent.