China's import and export service trade expanded 8.5 percent year on year in the first nine months of 2026, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday.
The total value of service imports and exports reached nearly 5.77 trillion yuan (about 864.99 billion U.S. dollars).
Service exports rose 14.8 percent year on year to over 2.27 trillion yuan. Service imports stood at almost 3.50 trillion yuan, up 4.8 percent from a year earlier. The country's service trade deficit narrowed by 132.66 billion yuan year on year to some 1.23 trillion yuan.
Throughout the period, transport services grew at the fastest rate, as it increased 33.9 percent to top 1.28 trillion yuan. Its scale is second only to that of travel services and other business services.
Transportation service exports hit 482.32 billion yuan, a growth of 29.4 percent, while transportation service imports climbed 36.8 percent to 799.4 billion yuan.
Knowledge-intensive service trade rose 7.4 percent to over 2.53 trillion yuan during the same period, accounting for 43.9 percent of all service trade value.
Exports of knowledge-intensive services went up 11.7 percent to nearly 1.22 trillion yuan, accounting for 53.7 percent of total service exports. Among them, personal cultural and entertainment services, and insurance and pension services registered the fastest growth, with rates of 69.1 percent and 50.3 percent, respectively.
Imports of knowledge-intensive services increased by 3.7 percent to more than 1.31 trillion yuan, accounting for 37.5 percent of total service imports.
China's service trade up 8.5 pct in Jan-Sept period
