Ministry: Trade in services a key priority this year

The ministry plans to introduce a new round of support measures for services outsourcing, including an industrial plan, from 2016-2020. In addition, it will step up the building of overseas sales networks, export credit will be strengthened, and new income tax policies will soon launched, Zhou said.

China's foreign trade down 1% in Q1

Top 10 trading partners of the Chinese mainland

Along with encouraging the exports of cultural services, China also will improve regulations on discount interest funds for technology exports as well as pilot supports for the trade of traditional Chinese medicine.

The third China (Beijing) International Fair for Trade In Services will be held from May 28 to June 1 in Beijing. Founded in 2012, the fair serves as an international platform of trade in services.

"In the near future, China will continue to expand importing of services, which is driven by economic restructuring," said Yao Jian, a spokesman for the ministry.

The scope of China's trade in services has been changing. The share of traditional services travel, transport and construction has been declining, while high-value-add services have maintained robust growth. The exports and imports of traditional services accounted for 59.4 percent of the total in the first quarter, down 3.3 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the ministry.

"China is a large goods trader, but not a well-developed one. Trade in services will play a crucial role in the process of the improvement as the share of trade in services accounted for only 12.8 percent of China's total trade in goods and services, much lower than the world's average of 20 percent," Yao said.

In the first quarter of 2014, China's goods trade fell 1 percent year-on-year while exports dropped 3.4 percent, mainly due to a large base figure inflated by rampant over-invoicing, through illicit transactions via Hong Kong, in the corresponding period last year.

Service sector shines in February, while manufacturing moseys along	Services trade growth outpaces that of goods