The head of the Service Trade Division of the Ministry of Commerce introduced the development of service trade from January to June 2026.

From January to June 2026, China's total service import and export volume reached 37,797.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.3%. Among them, exports amounted to 15,047 billion yuan, increasing by 17.6%; imports were 22,750.5 billion yuan, up by 2.9%. The service trade deficit stood at 7,703.5 billion yuan, a reduction of 1,614.2 billion yuan compared to the same period last year. The main characteristics are as follows: Knowledge-intensive service exports account for over half. From January to June, the import and export of knowledge-intensive services reached 16,634 billion yuan, an increase of 6.7%, accounting for 44% of the total service import and export volume. Knowledge-intensive service exports were 8,056.7 billion yuan, up 12.8%, making up 53.5% of the total service exports. Among these, exports of personal cultural and entertainment services and royalties for the use of intellectual property saw the fastest growth, with rates of 57.2% and 44.3%, respectively. Knowledge-intensive service imports reached 8,577.3 billion yuan, an increase of 1.4%. Export of travel services and import of transportation services increased significantly. From January to June, travel service exports were 2,292 billion yuan, growing by 31.1%, the fastest growth among the top five service export sectors; transportation service imports reached 4,981 billion yuan, growing by 30.4%, the fastest growth among the top five service import sectors.