Service trade soars 11.9% in the first four months

China’s service trade surged 11.9 percent year on year in the first four months of this year, up from 11.4 percent in January to March, the Ministry of Commerce said yesterday.

The value of exports and imports in the service sector totaled 1.67 trillion yuan (US$261 billion), the ministry said.

Exports of trade in services rose 13 percent to 552.61 billion yuan, while imports climbed 11.4 percent to 1.1 trillion yuan, giving a deficit of 560 billion yuan.

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

The growth of the service trade is due to rising world demand amid global economic growth and government policies to support service trade, the ministry said.

China has taken steps to improve the development of trade in services, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture and medical treatment sectors.

Last month, the State Council required 17 regions, including Beijing, to deepen the pilot program from July 1 this year to June 30, 2020 to promote innovative development of service trade. The program was first rolled out by the State Council in 2016.

A series of opening-up measures will be piloted in the regions, covering telecoms, tourism, engineering consulting, finance and legal services.

So far, China has opened 120 industries related to service trade to foreign investors, beating a goal of 100 industries set when it joined the World Trade Organization nearly two decades ago.

(Xinhua)