China's services trade achieves record

Consumption helps drive import, export growth to 17% in first half

China's international trade in services grew by 17 percent year-on-year to $397.31 billion in the first half of 2018, setting a record even amid the current global economic troubles, the Ministry of Commerce said.

The country's exports in services jumped 22.4 percent year-on-year to $132.09 billion between January and June this year, while imports of services amounted to $265.22 billion, up 14.4 percent from the same period a year earlier, the ministry said in a statement.