China says the total value of its trade in services rose to almost 400 billion US dollars in the first half of this year. The Commerce Ministry also says China's exports are rising faster than imports in the service sector, narrowing a trade deficit. CGTN's Wang Hui has the details.

The Ministry of Commerce says China's service trade grew to over 2.5 trillion yuan, or 397 billion US dollars in the January to June period. That's up 8.5 percent year-on-year. Data analysis shows service imports rose 6 percent to 265 billion dollars, while service exports grew even more, they were up 14 percent to 132 billion dollars. That led to a decrease in service trade deficit by about 2.7 billion yuan.

It is also the first time that China recorded a narrowing of deficit on a semi-annual basis.

LI YUAN SENIOR OFFICIAL, CHINESE COMMERCE MINISTRY "There are three reasons behind the shrinking gap. First, China's economy did pretty well in the first half of 2018. The rapid development of the service industry laid a solid foundation for the expansion of service trade. Secondly, service trade pilot programs centered around supply-side reform yielded positive results. Thirdly, we put service trades, especially those led by internet plus, as our top priority in foreign trade."

The US-China trade dispute arose in July. But one expert says because the two sides have mainly imposed extra tariffs on goods, the impact on trade in goods is obvious. But it has shown little impact on the trade in services between the two countries so far. Experts say in the long run, the effects will show.

LI XILIN ASSOC. RESEARCHER, CHINESE ACADEMY OF INT'L TRADE & ECONOMIC COOPERATION "It depends on how far the trade war goes. If it goes like it's been, it will first affect goods-related services, such as transport, manufacturing services on physical inputs owned by others, and maintenance and repair services. After that, more areas in the trade in services will be affected, including information services, computer and telecommunication."

WANG HUI, CGTN, BEIJING.