China's January services Purchasing Managers Index was 54, up from 51.7 in December and reaching a four-month high, according to the HSBC Holdings plc released on Tuesday.

Increasing numbers of new service businesses and expanding job opportunities were the biggest contributors to the expansion.

"Following the growth bottoming out in the fourth quarter of 2012, that the GDP growth rebounded to 7.9 percent year-on-year, China's growth recovery is now on a firmer footing," said Qu Hongbin, chief China economist with HSBC.

"The brightening outlook is further supported by the ongoing manufacturing recovery and recent turnaround in labor market conditions," a research note from the bank said.

The HSBC figure is largely consistent with the non-manufacturing PMI released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday, showing the five-month high of 56.2, because of the boosted domestic consumer retail industry.