China's annual trade in service exceeded US$100 billion in 2003, according to a latest government report.

China has become the world's ninth largest country in terms of service trade. It was also the first time for the nation to be ranked in top ten, according to the newly released report by the Ministry of Commerce.

Overseas service trade totaled US$102 billion last year. Its service trade export in 2003 reached US$46.7 billion, up 18 percent from the pervious year. The figure accounted for 2.7 percent of the world's total and made the country the largest service trade exporter in developing countries, the report said.

Service trade import in the same year reached US$55.3 billion, up 19 percent from a year earlier. That figure accounted for 3.2 percent of the world's total service trade import and ranked the country the largest importer of service trade among developing countries.

China is now the ninth largest exporter and the eighth largest importer of service trade in the world, according to the report.

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2004)