Beijing

CHINA'S services sector grew slightly faster in November, two surveys showed on Wednesday - a welcome respite to a run of underwhelming data, but still unlikely to allay concerns about the softening Chinese economy.

The encouraging reports about the services sector, which creates more jobs than factories, contrasted sharply with data out on Monday that suggested growth in China's manufacturing industry slid to its lowest in at least six months in November. That prompted some economists to predict that China would cut interest rates again in the coming months after doing so unexpectedly on Nov 21 to stoke growth in the world's second-largest economy.