BEIJING — China’s foreign service trade deficit narrowed in April after an uptick in March, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said on May 31.

The deficit stood at 126.1 billion yuan (about $18.4 billion) in April, down from 152.3 billion yuan in March, SAFE data showed.

Income from trade in services was 114.7 billion yuan, while expenditure totaled 240.8 billion yuan.

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

China regularly registers a deficit in service trade as its service sector is less competitive than a number of economies.

The government has channeled more energy into the sector and rolled out measures to improve it, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture and medical sectors.