BEIJING, Aug. 31 -- China's service trade value grew 8.1 percent year on year in the first seven months of this year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Thursday.

The total trade value stood at 3.67 trillion yuan (about 510.6 billion U.S. dollars), according to the data.

Service imports climbed 21.6 percent year on year to 2.13 trillion yuan, while service exports fell 6.3 percent from a year ago to 1.54 trillion yuan.

The service trade deficit stood at 589.91 billion yuan in the seven-month period, the data showed.

China's trade of knowledge-intensive services rose 11.7 percent year on year to about 1.58 trillion yuan. It accounts for 43.2 percent of the total service trade in the period, up 1.4 percentage points from a year ago.

Tourism services remain the sector with the fastest trade growth, with a rate of 66.2 percent. The total value stood at 768.13 billion yuan in the period.

Exports and imports of travel services expanded by 55.8 percent and 67 percent year on year, respectively, according to the data.