BEIJING, July 1 -- China's trade in services expanded 6 percent year on year in the first five months of 2026, with exports of travel and knowledge-intensive services reporting particularly strong growth, official data showed on Wednesday.

The total value of service imports and exports reached nearly 3.1 trillion yuan (about 455.4 billion U.S. dollars) from January to May this year, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce.

A breakdown of the data showed that service exports rose 15.9 percent to 1.23 trillion yuan, while imports edged up 0.4 percent to 1.87 trillion yuan. The service trade deficit narrowed by 160.72 billion yuan from one year earlier to 638.56 billion yuan.

During the period, knowledge-intensive service trade increased 5.4 percent year on year to 1.37 trillion yuan, accounting for 44.2 percent of all service trade.

Exports of knowledge-intensive services jumped 12.2 percent to 667.75 billion yuan, with charges for the use of intellectual property and personal cultural and entertainment services surging 64.9 percent and 50.1 percent, respectively.

Travel service exports grew at the fastest rate among the top five service export sectors, rising 31.3 percent to 188.5 billion yuan. Imports of transport services totaled 402.52 billion yuan, up 26.7 percent, marking the fastest growth rate among the top five service import categories.