SHANGHAI, June 5 (Reuters) - China stocks edged down on Wednesday, dragged lower by consumer and property shares, despite an unexpected pickup in service activity in May. Hong Kong shares were up.

China's services activity in May accelerated at the quickest pace in 10 months while staffing levels expanded for the first time since January, a private sector survey showed on Wednesday, pointing to sustained recovery in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, some Chinese AI chip companies are now designing less powerful processors to retain access to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co production in the face of U.S. sanctions.

The CSI semiconductor index rose 1.1%. ** At the midday break, the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.36% at 3,079.92 points. ** China's blue-chip CSI300 index was down 0.22%, with its financial sector sub-index 0.55% lower, the consumer staples sector down 0.95%, the real estate index down 1.77% and the healthcare sub-index up 0.67%. ** Chinese H-shares listed in Hong Kong rose 0.27% to 6,572.21, while the Hang Seng Index was up 0.33% at 18,505.56. ** The smaller Shenzhen index was down 0.33%, the start-up board ChiNext Composite index was higher by 0.12% and Shanghai's tech-focused STAR50 index was up 0.37%. ** Around the region, MSCI's Asia ex-Japan stock index was firmer by 0.72% while Japan's Nikkei index was down 1.07%. ** The yuan was quoted at 7.2457 per U.S. dollar, 0.08% weaker than the previous close of 7.2402. ** The top gainers among H-shares were Sunny Optical Technology Group Co Ltd, up 3.91%, followed by NetEase Inc gaining 2.78% and JD.Com Inc up by 2.73%. ** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, which has fallen 2.55%, PetroChina Co Ltd, which has lost 2.28% and CNOOC Ltd , down by 2.18%. (Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Eileen Soreng)