SHANGHAI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - China stocks closed higher on Friday after a week-long national holiday, helped by encouraging service sector data and easing political tensions with the United States. The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 1.3%, to 4,929.94, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.7% to 3,592.17 points. ** Activity in China’s services sector returned to growth in September as a major COVID-19 outbreak in the eastern province of Jiangsu receded, a private-sector survey showed on Friday, offering some support to a slowing economy. ** But tourism data during the Golden Week holiday was weak, fueling hopes for more policy easing. ** “Sluggish golden week data bode poorly for retail sales growth in October,” Nomura analysts said in a note. “We expect Beijing to ramp up its monetary and fiscal support.” ** The consumer staples and the tourism shares jumped over 3% each. ** The U.S. and China have agreed in principle for their presidents to hold a virtual meeting before year’s end after high-level talks meant to improve communication between the two big powers. ** The agriculture sub-index gained 3.4%, while the insurance sub-index added 5.3%. ** The coal sub-index slumped 4.1%, after China’s top coal region has told mines to boost output immediately, the latest attempt by authorities to boost coal supply amid record-high prices and shortages of electricity. ** The real estate firms dropped 1.5% as markets reopened with few clues as to how regulators propose to contain the contagion from cash-strapped China Evergrande Group’s debt problems. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.