China is stepping up its opening-up endeavors to revive its services trade amid a complex and severe external environment, with its total value of services trade climbing 8.5 percent year on year to 3.14 trillion yuan (about $430 billion) in the first half of this year.

The growth rate of trade in services is faster than that of trade in goods and outpaces the growth of services trade among the world's major economies. 

In the first half of 2023, knowledge-intensive services represented 43.5 percent of the total services trade, while travel service trade has rebounded rapidly, with the trade value growing by 65.4 percent year on year to reach 650.94 billion yuan.

China's services trade structure has changed due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020, the country's transportation services trade has surpassed travel services trade to become the largest sector in services trade. In the first six months, the value of transportation services trade hit a record high of 1.05 trillion yuan, accounting for 36.2 percent of total services trade.

Despite a decline in 2020 caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the total value of China's services trade has revived and rose by 12.9 percent year on year to nearly 5.98 trillion yuan in 2022, retaining second spot globally for nine years in a row, according to Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

The 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services will be held in Beijing from September 2 to 6, with exhibition areas spanning 155,000 square meters and over 2,200 companies worldwide confirming participation.

More than 200 countries and regions conduct trade in services with China amid deepened international cooperation, and China has signed memorandums in services trade with 15 countries, according to MOFCOM.