BEIJING — China's services industry made marked progress over the last decade, with industrial structure improved and new drivers emerging, official data showed on Sept 20.

The added value of the services sector grew at an average annual rate of 7.4 percent during the 2013-2021 period, 0.8 percentage points higher than the average annual GDP growth during the period, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report.

The sector's contribution to GDP expansion increased from 45 percent in 2012 to 63.5 percent in 2019, the report said, and its contribution in 2021 was 54.9 percent despite COVID-19 disruptions.

China's services sector has an improving structure. In 2021, the added value of information transmission, software and information technology services accounted for 7.2 percent of the added value of the services sector, up 2.3 percentage points from 2012, the report said.

The sector has also seen thriving new growth drivers. In 2021, e-commerce transactions in the country totaled 42 trillion yuan (about $6 trillion), with an average annual growth rate of 20.3 percent during the 2013-2021 period, according to the report.