Business activity in China's services sector expanded to a 16-month high in November, according to a private survey released on Monday.

The Caixin China General Services Purchasing Managers Index, conducted by financial information service provider Markit and sponsored by Caixin Media Co Ltd, stood at 53.1 in November, up from 52.4 in October and the highest since July 2015.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the services sector.

The survey shows that commencement of new projects and increases in new orders mainly contributed to the expansion of business activity in the services sector this month.

According to the survey, service enterprises hired more workers for the third consecutive month to support their expanding business activities, which was the fastest pace in the past 18 months.

There was little price pressure on services providers in November. Although price increases reached a 21-month high, they remained still modest and were below the long-term average level.

And service enterprises' unfinished workload increased for the second month in November, though the rate of growth was little changed from October.

The expansion trend showed by the Caixin China General Services PMI was in accordance with that of official statistics.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday, the business activity index of China's services sector stood at 53.7 in November, up from 52.6 in October and the highest level so far this year.

In addition, the new order index in the services sector stood at 51.2, up from 50.4 in October and it was the third consecutive month it remained in expansionary territory.

Caixin China Composite PMI, which covers both the manufacturing and services sectors, remained unchanged from October at 52.9. It was still at a three-year high and showed a solid increase in China's business activity in November.

"Price inflation, rather than a structural improvement, seems to be the main reason behind the recent recovery of the economy in general," said Zhong Zhengsheng, director of macroeconomic analysis at CEBM Group, a subsidiary of Caixin Insight Group.

"The economy may remain stable in the fourth quarter, but it will still face significant downward pressure next year."