‍Growth in China's services sector slowed slightly in April compared with the previous month, but remained robust.

The official non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 54.0 in April, compared with the previous month's reading of 55.1, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Sunday.

The 50-point mark separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

The March reading was the highest since May 2014.

The services sector accounted for over half of China's economy last year as rising wages gave Chinese consumers the opportunity to shop, travel and eat out more.

China's policymakers are counting on growth in services and consumption as they try to rebalance the country's economic growth model from a heavy reliance on investment and exports.

The NBS's official Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell to a six-month low of 51.2 in April from March's near five-year high of 51.8.

Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank in Singapore, said recent sharp declines in iron ore and onshore steel prices point to some of the pressures the country's manufacturers are facing.

"We believe that this on one hand reflects that there is little improvement in underlying demand," Zhou wrote in a note.

"On the other hand, the de-leveraging effort by the Chinese authorities, has started to work."

Chinese steel and iron ore futures tumbled to multi-month lows earlier this month as market sentiment turned bearish on demand outlook and worries mounted about a glut of steel later this year.

(Source: Reuters)