China targets 600 bln USD of service trade by 2015

China will increase its efforts to boost service trade, targeting an annual growth rate of 11 percent to reach 600 billion U.S. dollars by 2015, the Minsitry of Commerce (MOC) said Monday. The goal, which was set by a five-year plan on service trade unveiled by the MOC on Monday, was made in light of service trade's development situations both at home and in developed economies, said Zhou Liujun, director of MOC's Department of Trade in Services and Commercial Services, at a press conference about the plan. China has long seen an imbalanced development between its service and goods trades, and a growing service trade deficit, said Zhou, adding that despite the expected complex situation over the next five years, the industry will see more opportunities than challenges. According to the plan, the government will give priority to development of 30 service sectors, including both traditional domains, such as tourism and building services that have comparative advantages, and emerging domains such as consulting and computer and information services. To build a trade platform for domestic and overseas enterprises, the MOC will hold an international service trade fair in Beijing each year starting 2012, according to the MOC. In the first three quarters of the year, the country's service trade rose 18.7 percent year-on-year to 308.1 billion U.S. dollars, with 134.2 billion U.S. dollars in exports and 173.9 billion U.S. dollars in imports, MOC data showed.