China’s services trade totals $273.5 billion in Q1

Official data released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday showed that China’s services trade saw steady growth in the first quarter of this year, including a sharp increase in travel-related services trade.

The Ministry of Commerce reported that the country’s total services trade reached 1.97 trillion yuan (about $273.5 billion) during the period, an increase of 8.7 percent year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Service exports reached 835.15 billion yuan, a 12.2 percent increase from last year, while service imports rose 6.2 percent to 1.14 trillion yuan, resulting in a deficit of 303.88 billion yuan.

The data showed that travel-related services trade continued its strong growth momentum, jumping 21.8 percent year-on-year to 584.9 billion yuan. Meanwhile, trade in knowledge-intensive services rose 2.6% year-on-year to 752.49 billion yuan.