BEIJING — China’s foreign merchandise trade surplus fell in September, the country’s forex regulator said on Oct 28.

Income from merchandise trade stood at $178 billion last month, while expenditure was $133.9 billion, resulting in a surplus of $44 billion, according to data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

The September surplus was lower than $52.7 billion in August and $50 billion in July.

In terms of foreign service trade, China reported a deficit of $23.3 billion in September, down from $25.4 billion in August.

Distinct from merchandise trade, trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transport, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing and accounting.

China’s service trade volume grew from $362.4 billion in 2010 to $713 billion in 2015, doubling the average international growth speed in the sector.

The country is aiming to increase its service trade volume to over $1 trillion by 2020.

The State Council has pledged measures to improve the development of services trade, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture and medical sectors.

SAFE began releasing monthly data on service trade in January 2014, to improve the transparency of balance of payments statistics.