''Growth in China's services sector held near one-year highs in November, another indicator of strength as the government prepares to introduce sweeping reforms to restructure the world's second-largest economy.
The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector dipped slightly to 56 in November from a 13-month high of 56.3 in October, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.
That is still comfortably above the 50-point threshold that separates growth from contraction, and follows two other PMI surveys this week that showed a pick-up in activity for manufacturers last month.
The economy has regained some momentum since mid-year after a protracted slowdown. While it was expected to lose steam as the effect of government support measures faded, activity has remained resilient into the December quarter.
The services industry accounted for 45 percent of China's gross domestic output in 2012, and it overtook manufacturing as the country's biggest employer in 2011. It has weathered the global slowdown much better than the factory sector''.
''A separate PMI survey of the services industry by Markit Economics and HSBC will be released on Wednesday. That survey covers more smaller, private firms than the official PMI''.
Source: Reuters
