BEIJING, Aug. 15 -- China's service production index went up 5.7 percent year on year in July, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Tuesday.

Contact-based service sector witnessed fast recovery, with the sub-index for accommodation and catering surging by 20 percent year on year.

The sub-index tracking the output of the information transmission, software and IT services climbed 11.2 percent, while that for financial services expanded 7.6 percent, according to the NBS.

The index measuring business activity in the service sector stood at 51.5 percent in July, above the boom-bust line of 50.

The index increased by 8.3 percent year on year in the first seven months, and the combined revenues of major service enterprises rose 7.5 percent year on year in the first half of the year.

From January to July, retail sales in the service sector surged by 20.3 percent, with consumption for summer vacation tourism, as well as culture, sports and entertainment picked up markedly, offering significant support for consumption expansion, said the NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui.