Service trade deficit widens

Source: Xinhua | 2017-04-28

CHINA’S foreign service trade deficit continued to grow last month, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said yesterday.

The deficit was 152.3 billion yuan (US$22 billion) in March, up from US$17.6 billion in February, SAFE data showed.

Income from trade in services was 117.8 billion yuan, while expenditure totaled 270.1 billion yuan.

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

China holds a deficit in service trade as its service sector is less competitive than a number of other economies.

The government has channeled more energy into the sector and rolled out measures to improve service trade, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture and medical sectors.

In contrast to the deficit in service trade, China’s foreign goods trade ran a surplus of US$30.6 billion in March, compared with a deficit of US$4.8 billion in goods trade in February.

China’s total foreign service and goods trade had a surplus of 58.3 billion yuan in March, versus a deficit of 154.2 billion yuan in February.