Official data from the Ministry of Commerce reveals that in the first half of the year, China's total service trade import and export volume reached 3.78 trillion yuan, marking an 8.3% year-on-year increase. Service exports alone hit 1.5 trillion yuan, surging 17.6% from the previous year, while the service trade deficit narrowed by 161.4 billion yuan to 770.35 billion yuan. These figures reflect a profound shift in the global trade landscape, where service trade and cross-border cooperation in the services sector have become a new growth engine for world trade. They also highlight the enhanced quality and efficiency of China's services industry, which grew by 5.2% in the first half of the year, accounting for 59.5% of GDP and solidifying its position as the nation's largest economic sector. This raises the question: what new trends and highlights are emerging in China's service exports?

Rapid Growth in Travel Service Exports

In the first half of the year, China's travel service exports reached 229.2 billion yuan, a substantial 31.1% increase year-on-year, making it the fastest-growing segment among the top five service export categories. Travel services encompass tourism, studying abroad, and medical treatment, with spending by inbound visitors on accommodations, dining, transport, sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment all counted as travel service exports. Recent years have seen continuous policy optimization, including visa-free entry and departure tax refunds, fueling sustained activity in "China Travel" and "China Shopping." Starting July 1st, a new "small-amount spot-check system" for departure tax refunds was implemented nationwide, meaning refund applications under 10,000 yuan are now randomly inspected rather than verified item-by-item. Self-service kiosks for departure tax refunds have been installed at Shenzhen's Luohu port and airport, supporting 13 languages and completing refunds in as little as two to three minutes. In the first month of the new policy, Shenzhen Customs processed 13,000 departure tax refund verification cases involving 170 million yuan, representing a 2.2-fold and 94.1% increase respectively compared to the previous year. According to officials, overseas visitors are diversifying their purchases beyond traditional souvenirs like tea and silk, with domestic digital products, apparel, and cultural creative items becoming increasingly popular. As "China Travel" deepens, foreign tourists are venturing beyond first-tier cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen to explore lesser-known destinations. Qunar travel data shows that in the first half of the year, inbound flight destinations booked by foreign tourists on its platform covered 160 domestic cities, from Heihe near the China-Russia border in the north to Sanya on the tropical coast in the south, from Jiamusi in the east to Kashgar at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains in the west—20 more cities than the same period last year. Furthermore, inbound tourists are staying longer. Tujia Homestay data indicates that foreign guests stayed at homestays across 330 Chinese cities in the first half of the year, with an average stay of 2.8 days, a 10% increase year-on-year. During this summer's holiday season, the average stay extended to 4.7 days. "Now, many foreign tourists are willing to explore our smaller cities, communities, and villages, getting to know hosts and local life through homestays, spending more time to see a more authentic and diverse China," said Hu Yang, senior vice president of Tujia Homestay. "China is amazing. I strongly recommend everyone to go and see it," Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, recently wrote on social media. His mother, Maye Musk, later echoed the sentiment, stating that "every city in China has its own unique charm." Coming to China, experiencing China, and falling in love with China—inbound tourism is increasingly integrating with consumption, culture, and other scenarios, becoming a new pillar for service trade growth.

Knowledge-Intensive Services Exceed Half of Total Exports

Another bright spot in service trade growth is the export of knowledge-intensive services. In the first half of the year, China's exports in this category totaled 805.67 billion yuan, a 12.8% year-on-year increase, accounting for 53.5% of total service exports. XtalPi, a company specializing in AI-driven drug discovery, has accelerated its global business layout during this period, delivering intelligent, automated robot laboratories for drug discovery and process optimization to JW Pharmaceutical, a leading South Korean pharma company, achieving key progress in strategic cooperation with an innovative US biopharmaceutical firm, and securing an AI drug discovery partnership worth over $400 million with an internationally renowned pharmaceutical company. "We transform our proprietary AI algorithms, tools, processes, and automated experimentation capabilities into standardized, deliverable solutions for pharmaceutical and materials R&D. In serving global clients, we accumulate scarce high-quality data and industrialization experience, forming a virtuous cycle of technology export, global validation, and capability iteration," explained Zhang Peiyu, Chief Scientific Officer of XtalPi. The company boasts a globally leading "AI + chemistry robot" cluster, serving several top-20 international pharmaceutical companies, and collects high-quality data 50 times more efficiently than traditional laboratories, accelerating the clinical translation of more innovative drug projects. Alongside the development of new technologies like AI, Chinese enterprises are shifting from exporting technology products to exporting technological service capabilities. A notable new track emerging in recent years is "token export." Tokens, the basic units of information processed and generated by AI, can be seen as digital output formed from the conversion of electricity and computing power, representing essential resources in the AI era. Chinese companies are packaging mature domestic large model computing power into standardized interfaces, allowing overseas clients to access and use them immediately without building their own computing infrastructure. This lightweight and efficient model of token export is gaining favor among a growing number of overseas enterprises. In fields like programming, video creation, interactive entertainment, and AI-native gaming, many overseas startup teams are adopting China's large model Alibaba Qwen as their technical foundation, with its model capabilities, cost advantages, and mature cloud service system building brand trust within the global developer community.

Cultivating More "China Services" Brands

The growth in service exports reflects the rising recognition of the "China Services" brand. In recent years, Chinese service brands have accelerated their expansion into overseas markets, with the consumption concepts and cultural elements behind these brands gaining broader appreciation. The journey of a single tea drink going global epitomizes the internationalization of Chinese brands. Mixue Bingcheng, offering acai ice cream in Brazil, various sugar level options in the United States, and locally-inspired tropical flavors in Southeast Asia, operates on a "global standards + regional customization" model, respecting and integrating into local cultures. It has opened over 4,000 stores across Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand. Chagee, on the other hand, focuses more on space creation and scenario expansion, opening pet-friendly stores in pet-friendly areas of the Philippines and designing its flagship store in Seoul's Gangnam district with softer fabrics and green plants to create a "tranquil green oasis" for busy urban customers. From product innovation to scenario extension, the way Chinese brands go global is evolving. Companies are not only focusing on market coverage but also on building emotional connections with local consumers. Many traditional services are also accelerating quality and efficiency improvements. In April, a pilot program for the integrated development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) service consumption and trade was launched, covering 18 regions including Beijing, Tianjin, and Hulunbuir in Inner Mongolia. Over the next three years, these pilot areas will explore innovation in TCM cultural exchange, TCM tourism route promotion, TCM health and wellness services, and dietary therapy, catering to the multi-level needs of the international wellness market, creating new scenarios and business formats for TCM service consumption, and cultivating a number of well-known international TCM service brands. From the growth in travel services to the enhancement of knowledge-intensive services and the accelerated global expansion of Chinese brands, a series of data points paints a clear picture of the transformation and upgrading trajectory of China's service trade. With the continued opening up of the services sector, Chinese services will participate in the global division of labor in more diverse forms, continuously unlocking new development momentum.