BEIJING, Oct. 10 -- China's service trade value grew 8 percent year on year in the first eight months of this year, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed on Tuesday.

The service trade value reached 4.25 trillion yuan (about 592.1 billion U.S. dollars), according to the data.

Service imports climbed 22.5 percent year on year to 2.486 trillion yuan, while service exports fell 7.4 percent from a year ago to 1.767 trillion yuan, resulting in a deficit of 718.75 billion yuan in the first eight months of the year.

China's trade of knowledge-intensive services maintained steady growth in the period, rising 10.4 percent year on year to about 1.81 trillion yuan.

The figure represents 42.6 percent of the total service trade in the first eight months, up 0.9 percentage points from a year ago.

During the period, services related to the travel sector registered a notable recovery. Total trade value in this sector surged 69.5 percent from a year earlier to 919.99 billion yuan.

Exports and imports of travel services expanded by 54.9 percent and 70.7 percent year on year, respectively, according to the data.