BEIJING-- The growth of China's non-manufacturing sector slowed in August, as indicated by the decline of the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), the China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP) said Saturday.

The non-manufacturing sector's PMI, a key economic indicator, fell to 57.6 percent in August from 59.6 percent one month earlier, the CFLP said.

A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion from the previous month, while below indicates contraction.

Despite a fall in the PMI index, China's non-manufacturing sector had been growing relatively fast as the index stayed above the boom-or-bust line of 50, CFLP said.

The non-manufacturing index rose for the first time in three months in July, after dropping from the year's high of 62.5 percent in April to 57 percent in June.

Major sub-indices fell month-on-month in August, with the index for new orders down 1.5 percentage points to 54.1 percent last month while that for intermediate input prices declined to 60.2 percent.

The federation's non-manufacturing PMI is based on a survey of about 1,200 companies in 20 industries including transport, real estate, retailing, catering and software.