The effects of increasing employment share of services on the real GDP growth have been investigated by a series of theoretical and empirical analysis for developed countries. In contrast, there are few empirical test studies of such effects on macro economies for developing countries. Baumol predicts that the increasing employment share of services will lower real GDP growth and thus productivity growth in services. Based on the extended Baumol’s model of two-sector unbalanced growth, this study provides an empirical analysis of the causes of employment shift and the impact of rising share of services on the productivity growth in China. Though the GDP share and the employment share of services has been increasing secularly for decades in China, the growth rate of labor productivity in services is slightly higher than that in manufacturing. The results have not confirmed the Baumol’ hypothesis because of the low labor productivity in manufacturing and large number of rural labor. The external shocks of demand for services show weak effect on the employment growth in services and are not significant. Furtherly, the regression analysis shows that there is the potential possibility of cost disease in China. This study empirically tests the impact of the rising services on the overall economy and can help to develop appropriate industrial policies for developing countries.