China's service sector made a smaller contribution to the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in the first three quarters, despite the rapid growth of the sector, said the top economic planner on Friday.

 

The proportion stood at 38.7 percent, down 3.3 and 0.5 percentage points respectively compared with those for the first quarter and the first half, said Xia Nong, a deputy head of the industrial policy department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) at a press conference held in Beijing.

 

The growth of the service sector quickened in the first nine months over the same period a year earlier by 1.5 percentage points, up 1.1 and 0.4 percentage points over the first quarter and the first half.

 

However, it failed to outpace the growth of the secondary industry and the national economy as a whole, Xia said, without revealing the figure for the growth of the service sector.

 

The added value of China's major industrial enterprises grew 18.5 percent over the same period last year, while the aggregate GDP was up 11.5 percent in the first nine months from the corresponding period last year.

 

Xia said the development of emerging services such as finance, real estate and business-related service accelerated in the first three quarters, with the growth of the finance sector up 0.4 percentage points and the real estate sector up 3.2 percentage points over the same period last year.

 

Meanwhile, the growth of more traditional service sectors including wholesale and retail, lodgings and catering slowed down, and only the transportation sector gained in growth rate.

 

The real estate sector recorded the fastest growth in the first nine months, with its growth rate being two percentage points higher than that for the whole service sector.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2007 r)