The Zhitong Finance App learned that on October 13, the head of the Department of Trade and Services of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the development of trade in services from January to August 2026. From January to August 2026, China's total import and export volume of services was 5070.16 billion yuan (RMB, same below), an increase of 7.9% over the previous year. Among them, exports amounted to 610 billion yuan in 1999, an increase of 14.8%; imports amounted to 3070.55 billion yuan, an increase of 3.8%. The service trade deficit was 1070.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 145.12 billion yuan.
The original text is as follows:
The head of the Department of Trade and Services of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the development of trade in services from January to August 2026
From January to August 2026, China's total import and export volume of services was 5070.16 billion yuan (RMB, same below), an increase of 7.9% over the previous year. Among them, exports amounted to 610 billion yuan in 1999, an increase of 14.8%; imports amounted to 3070.55 billion yuan, an increase of 3.8%. The service trade deficit was 1070.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 145.12 billion yuan. It mainly presents the following characteristics:
Exports of travel and transport services contributed nearly 50% to overall service export growth. From January to August, exports of travel services amounted to 275.17 billion yuan, an increase of 15.3%, while exports of transport services amounted to 420.06 billion yuan, an increase of 28.2%. Exports of travel and transport services contributed 14.1% and 35.8% to overall service export growth, respectively.
Knowledge-intensive services account for more than half of exports. In January-August, imports and exports of knowledge-intensive services amounted to 223.14 billion yuan, an increase of 6.6%, accounting for 44% of the total import and export of services. Exports of knowledge-intensive services amounted to 1074.47 billion yuan, an increase of 10.9%, accounting for 53.7% of service exports. Among them, personal cultural and entertainment services and financial services grew the fastest, with growth rates of 66% and 21.6% respectively. Imports of knowledge-intensive services amounted to 1156.93 billion yuan, an increase of 2.8%, accounting for 37.7% of service imports.
This article was edited by the Ministry of Commerce, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Siyu.