Services emerging as key driver for trade growth

-on-year to 1.5 trillion yuan in the first half. Exports of knowledge-intensive services rose 12.8 percent to 805.67 billion yuan, making up 53.5 percent of all services exports, said the Ministry of Commerce.

"With knowledge-intensive services now accounting for more than half of China's services exports, the sector has reached an inflection point and is moving further up the value chain," said Bai Wenxi, vice-chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Union.

Digital technology and artificial intelligence are accelerating the shift, with digital services emerging as a new growth engine, Bai said.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, also struck an optimistic note, saying China's rapid advances in AI and steady improvements in intellectual property protections would give its services exports ample room to grow.

Travel service exports grew even faster, rising 31.1 percent year-on-year to 229.2 billion yuan in the first half, the fastest pace among the five largest service export categories, said the ministry.

The surge came as China expanded visa-free access, streamlined departure tax refunds and improved payment services, fueling the popularity of "China Travel", Yan said.

China is doubling down on services exports, with "encouraging and supporting services exports" embedded in this year's Government Work Report as a key task.

In April, the State Council — the nation's Cabinet — issued a new set of guidelines aimed at expanding capacity and upgrading the quality of the country's services sector, setting a goal for its total scale to reach 100 trillion yuan by 2030.