China's services sector grew at a faster pace in June, the latest survey from HSBC and Markit Economics revealed on Thursday - posting an index score of 53.1 and touching a 15-month high.
That's up from 50.7 in May.
That lifted China's composite PMI to 52.4 - up from 50.2 in the previous month.
A score above 50 means expansion in a sector, while a reading below means contraction.
"The expansion in the service sector reinforces the recovery seen in the manufacturing sector, and signaled a broad-based improvement over the month," said Hongbin Qu, Chief Economist, China & Co-Head of Asian Economic Research at HSBC.
June data indicated that a solid rise in activity at service providers and renewed output growth at manufacturers supported the faster expansion of output at the composite level. Furthermore, manufacturing output increased at the strongest pace since last November, while services activity growth was the quickest since March 2013.
Total new work expanded at an accelerated and robust pace at service providers in June, while manufacturers saw the first increase in new business for five months. Furthermore, the expansion of new orders at service providers was the strongest since January 2013.
Service sector firms increased their payroll numbers for the tenth successive month in June, and at the second-fastest rate in 2014 so far. Meanwhile, staff numbers fell again at manufacturing companies, albeit at the slowest rate in three months.
Backlogs of work at Chinese service providers rose for the first time since January 2012 in June. Outstanding business also increased at manufacturers and for the first time since January.
Input costs increased for the first time in six months at manufacturers, but at a modest rate. Cost burdens faced by service providers also increased in June.
"We think the economy is slowly turning around, and expect the recovery to remain supported by accommodative policies on both the fiscal and monetary fronts over the coming months. The slowdown in the property market still poses downside risks, however, and may warrant further easing measures in 2H 2014," Hongbin said.
Also on Thursday, the National Bureau of Statistics' index suggested that the services sector in China continued to expand in June, albeit at a slower pace, showing a score of 55.0. That's down from 55.5 in May, which represented a six-month high.
Among the individual components of the survey, expectations came in at 60.4, followed by input prices (56.0), prices charged (50.8) and new orders (50.7).
