China's April services growth quickens slightly

Steady growth since 2007

An expanding industry that is likely to continue accounting for over half of all jobs in China, the services sector has weathered the country's economic cooldown better than manufacturing, even though growth has slackened.

The official PMI survey has hovered above 50 every month since records started in January 2007, though growth still slumped to a five-year low in January, when the PMI dropped to 53.4.

Economic growth slipped to an 18-month low of 7.4 percent in the first three months of the year, and is forecast to also be 7.4 percent for 2014, compared with the government's growth target of about 7.5 percent.

To prove that China has the mettle to enact painful reforms, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has repeatedly said that his government would not loosen policy drastically to counter any short-term dips in activity.

And in a break from the past, the government has also turned its economic growth target into one that is flexible, saying it would be comfortable if actual expansion falls slightly short of what is envisioned.

Feb manufacturing PMI drops to 50.2	China's manufacturing PMI rises to 50.3% in March