China's service trade reached a new high in the first half of 2018 as the government made more efforts to boost and further open up the service sector.
The Ministry of Commerce reported on Wednesday (8.8.2018) that the country's trade in services increased 8,5 percent year-on-year to 2,53 trillion yuan (almost 370.000 billion dollars) in the first half.
La exporting of services are increased 13,6 percent to 841.570 billion yuan, while imports rose 6,1 percent to 1,69 trillion yuan, resulting in a deficit of about 848.180 billion yuan, 2.660 billion yuan less than the same period last year.
Deficit falls in eight years
This was the first time in eight years that China has seen a decline in its services trade deficit in the half-year data.
Telecommunications, insurance, travel and education
Ministry official Li Yuan attributed the declining deficit to a rapidly growing service sector, political support from the government and increased exports of emerging services, such as telecommunications and insurance.
However, the official predicted that the deficit will continue to grow in the coming years as Chinese people continue to have a high demand for overseas travel and education, and that it will finally be limited by 2025.
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¿What is trade in services?
Trade in services refers to the sale and provision of intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing and accounting.
China has taken steps to enhance the development of trade in services, including gradually opening up the financial, educational, cultural, and healthcare sectors.
The expansion of Trade in services has outpaced growth rates in trade in goods, service sector added value and gross domestic product in the same period. Service trade accounted for 15,2 percent of China's total foreign trade in the first six months of the year, up 0,1 percentage points year on year.
Exports of emerging services rose 23,6 percent in the first half to 440.200 billion yuan, accounting for more than half of total service exports.
Source: Xinhua
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