China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index, or PMI, rose to 51.9 in May from 51.4 in April, National Bureau of Statistics data showed.
The manufacturing industry's overall expansion accelerated during the month, the statistics bureau said, as the PMIs of large and medium-sized enterprises both rose to 53.1 and 51.0 respectively, up 1.1 and 0.3 points respectively.
However, the PMI of small enterprises fell 0.7 points to 49.6, which is below the 50-point threshold. Values above the 50-point mark indicate expansion.
China's non-manufacturing PMI inched up to 54.9 in May, up 0.1 point from April, indicating steady growth.
"Both manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMI show the Chinese economy had good growth in May," Iris Pang, Greater China economist at ING, said in a note. "We expect this to continue as China is investing in high-tech sectors to cushion the impacts of trade tensions."
Pang noted high-tech manufacturing was the main driver of production activities, with the manufacturing of equipment and high-tech product PMIs climbing to 53.0 and 54.8 respectively, up 1.3 and 1.0 points respectively from April. "These two items have been consistently higher than the headline figure. This shows that China already has the fundamentals to build even more advanced technology," she said.
The small increase in non-manufacturing PMI can be attributed to inbound tourism, air flights and shopping activities during the Golden Week, added Pang.
The official indicator focuses primarily on larger, state-owned companies while the Caixin-Markit gauge tracks small private firms.
