Trade in services grows at rapid rate

China’s trade in services jumped 11.9 percent year-on-year to 1.67 trillion yuan ($261 billion) in the first four months of 2018, a record growth rate so far this year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

Service trade saw a strong run from January to April, with both imports and exports delivering double-digit growth, according to the ministry’s online statement.

“The rapid growth of trade in services indicates that the stronger global economy, as a whole, has driven demand in the international market and provided favorable external conditions for further development,” an official at the commerce ministry was quoted as saying in the statement.

“It also shows that the government’s introduction of measures to support service trade has played a significant role in spurring growth,” the official said.

Trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products, such as transportation, tourism, telecommunication, construction, advertising, computing and accounting.

China has been focusing on

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shifting its economy toward a growth model driven by consumption, services and innovation, thus injecting vitality into the world economy.

Ding Huiru, deputy director of the service trade department at the Ministry of Commerce, said trade in services has ushered in new opportunities, as the world economy achieved a recovery and rebound.

“We will ramp up efforts to help build China’s national brands in the service trade industry, in a bid to meet ever-growing domestic demand and add fuel to global economic development,” Ding said.

According to data from the commerce ministry, services exports grew faster than imports between January and April. Imports of trade in services surged 11.4 percent year-on-year to 1.11 trillion yuan, while exports climbed 13 percent from the same period a year earlier to 552.61 billion yuan.

In the same period, trade in services from emerging sectors continued to sustain a high growth rate. Exports from emerging sectors contributed more than half the country’s total services exports, according to the ministry’s data.

Although traditional trade used to feature long transportation periods and high risk, it has taken on a new model, international trade in goods and services, thanks to crossborder e-commerce, said Zhong Zeyu, deputy director at the China Association of Trade in Services.

The combination of trade in goods and services will be an important way for companies to upgrade their trade structure, and to improve quality and efficiency, Zhong said.

In January, the country launched an investment fund of 30 billion yuan to facilitate the transformation of China’s foreign trade patterns and foster new economic growth momentum. The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and China Merchants Capital Investment Co Ltd jointly launched the fund.