Deficit in services trade falls

Source: Xinhua | 2019-03-29

China’s trade deficit in services narrowed in February to US$20.6 billion from US$22.8 billion in January, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said yesterday.

Services imports were US$36.4 billion and exports were US$15.8 billion.

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

SAFE began issuing monthly data on services trade in January 2014 to improve the transparency of balance of payment statistics. Since the start of 2015, it has also included monthly data on merchandise trade in its reports.

Last month, China saw a surplus of US$8.5 billion in foreign merchandise trade, down from US$46 billion in January.