People visit an exhibition area of the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, capital of China, Sept 9, 2020. (PAN SIWEI / XINHUA)

BEIJING- China's service trade rose 21.9 percent year-on-year to reach 1.9 trillion yuan (about $286.4 billion) in the first four months of the year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Tuesday.

Of the total, service exports totalled about 933.3 billion yuan, up 25.1 percent year-on-year, and service imports expanded 19.1 percent from a year ago to 974.2 billion yuan.

In April alone, service trade value stood at 450.2 billion yuan, up 10.8 percent year-on-year

In April alone, service trade value stood at 450.2 billion yuan, up 10.8 percent year-on-year.

The growth of service trade exports outpaced import growth by six percentage points during the January-April period, resulting in a 43.1-percent drop in the service trade deficit, data showed.

During the first four months, China's trade of knowledge-intensive services maintained steady growth, rising 9.3 percent year on year to about 801 billion yuan, said the ministry.

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Sectors such as telecommunications and computer and information services saw rapid increases in exports, while insurance services were among the fastest growing areas in imports.

The tourism service trade continued to recover, with its trade value expanding 9.5 percent from a year ago to 271.8 billion yuan. 

In contrast to merchandise trade, services trade refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing, and accounting. 

READ MORE: China's service trade up 21.9% in Jan-April