Off the wire
Chinese artists, writers to meet in Beijing  • 3rd LD-Writethru-Economic Watch: China reiterates healthy development of outbound investment  • Kenya, Uganda launch northern economic corridor master plan  • Top news items in major Zambian media outlets  • Interview: Australian economist sees RCEP as platform to demonstrate world's confidence in free trade system  • Top news items in major S. African media outlets  • Aid agencies say 5 mln Somalis face acute food shortages  • Interview: Kenya eyes second major seaport by 2020  • Top news items in major Nigerian media outlets  • Top news items in major Kenyan media outlets  
You are here:   Home

China's foreign service trade deficit narrows

Xinhua, November 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

China's foreign service trade deficit narrowed in October while the trade volume dropped, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed Monday.

The deficit stood at 20.9 billion U.S. dollars last month, down from 23.3 billion dollars in September and 25.4 billion dollars in August.

Income from trade in services stood at 22.3 billion U.S. dollars last month, down from 23 billion dollars in September. Meanwhile, expenditures totaled 43.2 billion dollars, less than September's 46.3 billion dollars.

Distinct from merchandise trade, trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing and accounting.

China's service trade volume grew from 362.4 billion U.S.dollars in 2010 to 713 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, doubling the average international growth speed in the sector. The country is aiming to increase its service trade volume to over 1 trillion U.S. dollars by 2020.

The State Council has pledged measures to improve the development of services trade, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture and medical sectors.

SAFE began releasing monthly data on service trade in January 2014 to improve the transparency of balance of payments statistics. Since the beginning of 2015, it has also included monthly data on merchandise trade in its reports.

In October, China saw a surplus of 49.9 billion dollars in foreign merchandise trade, up from 44 billion dollars in September, according to SAFE. Endi