BEIJING, July 17 -- China's service sector registered faster expansion in the first half (H1) of this year and contributed more to the broader economy, official data showed on Monday.

The value-added service output went up 6.4 percent year on year in the January-June period, accelerating by 1 percentage point from the first quarter, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

As economic and social activities returned to normalcy, this sector's output growth, contact-based services in particular, expedited significantly, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference on Monday.

According to the data, the value-added output of the catering and accommodation sectors expanded 15.5 percent year on year in the first six months, and that of information transmission, software and IT service sectors increased 12.9 percent.

The economic growth was mainly driven by industry last year, but in the first half, the momentum came from both services and industrial sectors, Fu said. The service output has accounted for 66.1 percent of the economic growth, higher than the secondary industry.

According to Fu, the service sector will maintain its rapid growth as people's consumption demand in tourism and sports will be unleashed at a faster pace, and service activities in R&D, design, and business exhibitions will also increase.

Monday's data also showed that in the January-May period, the combined business revenue of service enterprises above the designated size gained 8.5 percent from a year ago.