Output in China continued to grow in May, with a key index measuring the country's economy from Markit Economics improving 50 basis points to 51.9 during the month.
While only marginally above a break even reading of 50, the increase was the greatest jump seen in seven months, led primarily by strength in China's service sector.
However, the sub-index measuring the service industry read at 54.7, below the long-run trend of 56.7.
"New business wins were often cited by panellists as the main factor behind the latest increase in services output," Markit said. "Indeed, the pace of new order growth was marked, and the fastest since October 2010."
The report showed modest employment growth within services, as production costs continued to increase.
Below, composite Chinese PMI, which includes both the services and manufacturing reports.
The news follows relatively disappointing data out of Japan, where the Markit index measuring the service sector edged down to 49.8, signaling the first decline in six months.
"The slight dip in service sector activity reflected a near-stagnation of incoming new orders," Markit said in its statement on Japan. "Growth of new work eased for a second successive month to the weakest in the current four-month period of expansion. This, coupled with a slower rise in manufacturers’ new orders, meant that private sector new work increased only marginally in May."
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