SHANGHAI : China's service trade deficit widened in January, data from the country's FX regulator showed on Friday, as outbound tourism and spending picked up after Beijing exited from its stringent zero-COVID strategy.
Tourism contributed $14.5 billion of the deficit last month, compared with $12.5 billion in December. Lemon Zhang, FX strategist at Barclays, said consumption by Chinese tourists outside the country accounted for up to 85 per cent of the service deficit before the COVID-19 pandemic.