China stocks firm on upbeat service sector data; Hong Kong gains

* SSEC 0.2%, CSI300 0.1%, HSI 1.2%

* HK->Shanghai Connect daily quota used 5.4%, Shanghai->HKdailyquota used 2.3%

* FTSE China A50 +0.3%

SHANGHAI, Sept 4 (Reuters) - China stocks firmed onWednesday, bucking a global retreat, as the country's upbeatservice sector data outweighed lingering worries over aprotracted Sino-U.S. trade war.

** The CSI300 index rose 0.1% to 3,859.14 pointsat the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai CompositeIndex gained 0.2% to 2,936.68.

** Activity in China's services sector expanded at thefastest pace in three months in August as new orders rose,prompting the biggest increase in hiring in over a year, aprivate survey showed on Wednesday.

** "China's economy showed clear signs of a recovery inAugust, especially in the employment sector," Zhong Zhengsheng,director of Macroeconomic Analysis at CEBM Group, said in astatement alongside the data.

** The data helped offset worries over the year-long tradedispute, which has strained economic growth in China and theUnited States.

** U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned he would be"tougher" on Beijing in a second term if trade talks dragged on,compounding market fears that ongoing trade disputes couldtrigger a U.S. recession.

** Among big economies, China's economy remains resilientoverall, Yan Jinkui, an analyst with Caida Securities.

** Investors shall be optimistic about China's techdevelopment, which could become a key part of the country'seconomic growth, as Beijing has a large number of scientific andtechnological talents and a huge domestic market, Yan said.

** In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 1.2% to25,830.19 points, while the Hong Kong China Enterprises Indexgained 1.1% to 10,149.22.

** Stocks climbed as investors hunted for bargains after arecent sell-off amid political protests. Gains were led by theproperty sector, one of the most hard-hit industries, with theHang Seng properties index rising 2%, by lunch break.

** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock indexwas firmer by 0.52%, while Japan's Nikkei indexwas down 0.05%.

** The yuan was quoted at 7.1663 per U.S. dollar,0.17% firmer than the previous close of 7.1788.

** The largest percentage gainers in the main ShanghaiComposite index were Ningxia Jiaze Renewables Corp Ltd, which gained 10.07%, followed by Beijing UnitedInformation Technology Co Ltd, which rose 10.01% andWingtech Technology Co Ltd, up by 10%.

** The largest percentage losses in the Shanghai index wereAvic Aviation High Technology Co Ltd, which slipped6.45%, followed by G-bits Network Technology Xiamen Co Ltd, which lost 6.38% and Shandong Pharmaceutical GlassCo Ltd, down by 6.05%.

** The top gainers among H-shares were Haitong Securities CoLtd, up 5.91%, followed by Huatai Securities Co Ltd, which climbed 4.18% and PICC Property and Casualty CoLtd, which rose 4.11%.

** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners wereGuangzhou Automobile Group Co Ltd, which dropped2.35%, Guangdong Investment Ltd, which lost 1.9% andANTA Sports Products Ltd, down by 1.3%.

** As of 0416 GMT, China's A-shares were trading at apremium of 29.12% over the Hong Kong-listed H-shares.

(Reporting by Luoyan Liu and John Ruwitch, Editing by SherryJacob-Phillips)