China's deficit¹ of trade in services is expected to expand in the next few years due to the country's industrial and consumption upgrades, an official said Thursday.

 

因工业和消费升级，未来几年中国的服务贸易赤字有望扩大。

 

The service trade deficit may begin to shrink "only after it reaches a certain level," Gao Feng, spokesperson for the Ministry² of Commerce said at a press conference.

 

China's service trade deficit has seen a rising trend in recent years. Last year, the deficit was 1.62 trillion yuan (about 253 billion U.S. dollars).

 

In the first four months of this year, China's service trade deficit stood at 88.24 billion dollars. Although the figure for the first five months is yet to be released, it is expected to surpass goods trade surplus of 99.67 billion dollars for the January-May period.

 

"Judging from international experience, it is a general law for large manufacturing nations to see service trade deficits³ in the process of transformation⁴," Gao said.

 

The deficit is the result of China's industrial transformation and upgrading of residential⁵ consumption, he said.

 

As the economy enters the phase of high-quality development, China also has a growing appetite for quality service products, Gao added.

点击收听单词发音