China's Service Trade Up 6% in Jan-May, Deficit Narrows by RMB 160.7 Billion
Claire Weston
China's services trade hit RMB 3.1 trillion in the first five months, with exports growing 15.9% against a near-flat 0.4% import gain — shrinking the deficit by RMB 160.7 billion as the export mix shifts from labor to knowledge.
What does the headline number look like?
Total services trade reached RMB 3,099.5 billion, up 6% year-on-year.
Exports rose 15.9% to RMB 1,230.5 billion; imports edged up just 0.4% to RMB 1,869.0 billion.
This means → export growth outpaced imports by roughly 40 times, compressing the deficit from about RMB 799.3 billion to RMB 638.6 billion.
Why did exports accelerate so sharply?
The main driver: knowledge-intensive service exports hit RMB 667.8 billion, up 12.2%.
Within that, intellectual-property licensing fees surged 64.9% and personal, cultural, and entertainment services jumped 50.1% — the two fastest sub-segments by far.
In plain terms = China's services exports used to rely on shipping and labor — "muscle work." Now patent royalties and media content — "brain work" — are pulling ahead.
Travel-service exports also grew 31.3% to RMB 188.5 billion, the fastest among the top five export categories.
What happened on the import side?
Overall imports barely moved, up just 0.4%.
The exception: transport-service imports reached RMB 402.5 billion, up 26.7%. This reflects rising goods-trade volumes pushing freight bills higher.
Knowledge-intensive service imports actually slipped 0.3% to RMB 701.0 billion. This means → China is spending less on "buying knowledge" while earning more from "selling knowledge."
How important are knowledge-intensive services now?
Combined knowledge-intensive imports and exports totaled RMB 1,368.7 billion — 44.2% of all services trade.
In plain terms = nearly half of China's services trade is now tied to IP, technology, finance, and information — high-value-added sectors.
This reflects a rising "quality premium" in the trade mix, but 44.2% also means the other half is still traditional services. The shift is far from complete.
Can this trend hold?
The key variable: whether external demand for IP and cultural-entertainment services stays stable.
Growth rates of 64.9% and 50.1% sit on a small base; once the base effect fades, the pace will almost certainly slow.
This means → whether the deficit-narrowing story continues depends on these emerging export categories transitioning from "burst growth" to "steady volume."
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.