BEIJING, March 18 -- China's service sector registered faster growth in the first two months of 2024, with an official production index up 5.8 percent year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Monday.

The increase quickened from the 5.5-percent growth rate seen in the same period of 2023, according to the NBS.

"The service sector showed sound growth momentum with robust accommodation, catering and transportation sectors," NBS spokesperson Liu Aihua told a press conference on Monday.

A warming consumer market and booming holiday consumption contributed to vibrant services, Liu said, citing surging catering incomes, box office sales, and tourism spending during the Spring Festival holiday in February.

In breakdown, the accommodation and catering sector reported the largest uptick of 12.1 percent, followed by information transmission, software and IT services of 10.4 percent. The financial sector also logged a robust increase of 8.2 percent, and transportation, warehousing and postal services went up 7.1 percent. The wholesale and retail sales were up by 7 percent.

In February, another index measuring business activities of the service sector stood at 51 percent, up 0.9 percentage points from January.

The railway and air transportation, catering, monetary and financial services, environmental protection and public facility management, and the cultural, sports and entertainment sectors stayed in the high-climate zone of over 55 percent.