BEIJING - The number of newly-registered companies in China's service sector stood at 1.3 million in the first six months of the year, according to a report of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Sunday.

They accounted for 78 percent of the total newly-registered firms in the country during the period, according to the report.

New firms in the service sector played an important role in creating jobs, said the NDRC.

China's service sector grew 8 percent year on year in the first six months, 0.6 percentage points higher than the country's economic growth during the period.

Value added output of the service has risen to 46.6 percent of the country's gross domestic product, up 1.3 percentage points year on year.

Amid economic downward pressure both at home and abroad, China has made efforts to facilitate business registration. A new business registration rule took effect on March 1, with lower capital requirement for new companies and simplified registration procedures.

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