China's service trade grows in Q1 amid tourism boom

BEIJING -- China's trade in services expanded 2.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026, with stellar growth recorded in travel service exports, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Friday.

The total value of service imports and exports reached over 1.8 trillion yuan (about $262.8 billion) in the first three months of the year, according to the ministry.

Notably, travel service exports jumped 32.3 percent year-on-year to 105.35 billion yuan in the reporting period, the highest growth among all service export sectors.

Meanwhile, imports of transport services totaled 230.2 billion yuan in Q1, an increase of 22.8 percent, marking the fastest pace in the top five service import categories by scale.

Trade in knowledge-intensive services expanded by 1.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, accounting for 43.5 percent of total service trade. Personal cultural and entertainment services, as well as financial services, recorded particularly sharp export gains of 25.6 percent and 16.1 percent, respectively.

Inbound tourism has been booming in recent years after China introduced expanded visa-free policies and conveniences such as instant tax refunding for departing visitors.

In Q1 of 2026, foreign nationals made roughly 8.32 million visa-free entries into China, making up 77.9 percent of all inbound foreign trips and representing an increase of 29.3 percent year-on-year, official data revealed.