China Services Sector
Sales people negotiate with customers at booths selling mobile phones at a shopping mall in Beijing Sept. 3, 2013. Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon

China's official purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the non-manufacturing sector dropped to 54.6 in December from 56.0 the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday, according to Reuters. The dip mirrors a slowdown in manufacturing growth.

A reading above 50 indicates that activity in the sector is accelerating, while one below 50 show that it's slowing.

The survey followed the NBS's manufacturing PMI on Wednesday, which revealed that growth in China's factory activity eased slightly in December, as well as a private PMI survey Thursday that also showed activity slowed, Reuters reported.

A separate PMI survey of the services industry by Markit Economics and HSBC, which will be released Jan. 6, covers more smaller, private firms than the official PMI.