BEIJING - Despite a slowing economy, China's service sector was eye-catching in terms of growth, investment attraction and tax contribution in 2016, an official said Sunday.

Xu Jianyi, with the National Bureau of Statistics, said that the service sector had reinforced its role as the largest industry in China, accounting for 56.5 percent of the country's total tax income, 51.6 percent of GDP and 58 percent of total fixed asset investment in 2016.

Value added in the service sector increased 7.8 percent year-on-year to 38.4 trillion yuan ($5.6 trillion), while growth was 3.3 percent for the primary sector and 6.1 percent for the secondary sector.

Investment in the service sector hit 34.6 trillion yuan in 2016, up 10.9 percent year-on-year, which was 7.4 percentage points higher than the secondary industry growth rate last year.

In the first three quarters of 2016, 3.25 million companies were newly registered in the service sector, 27.6 percent higher during the same period in the previous year.

Internet technology, the sharing economy, e-commerce and tourism, among others, have became major driving forces behind the service sector, according to the official.

China's economy grew 6.7 percent year-on-year in 2016, the slowest pace of growth for 26 years.