China July services trade deficit falls to $21 bn

Deficit due to greater spending of Chinese tourists in foreign countries

China's trade deficit in services fell to $21.0 billion in July from $29.5 billion in June, the foreign exchange regulator said on Thursday.

July's deficit was largely due to a $17.7 billion gulf in spending between foreign tourists and the Chinese, who splurge more abroad than visitors in China, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed.

For the January-July period, China's services trade deficit stood at $151.9 billion.