BEIJING, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's service trade maintained steady growth in the first eight months of the year, with total imports and exports reaching nearly 5.25 trillion yuan (about 739 billion U.S. dollars), up 7.4 percent year on year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

Specifically, service exports rose 14.7 percent to 2.3 trillion yuan, while imports increased 2.3 percent to 2.95 trillion yuan, according to the ministry's data. The service trade deficit narrowed by 228 billion yuan compared to the same period last year.

Knowledge-intensive services saw continued growth in trade, with imports and exports totaling 2.03 trillion yuan, up 6.7 percent year on year.

Travel service trade totaled 1.45 trillion yuan, up 8.6 percent from a year earlier.

Notably, the exports of travel services surged 57.6 percent during the period, according to the data. ■