BEIJING -- China's service trade maintained steady growth in the first half of this year, with total imports and exports reaching 3.89 trillion yuan ($544.9 billion), up 8 percent year-on-year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.

Specifically, service exports rose 15 percent to 1.69 trillion yuan, while imports increased 3.2 percent to 2.2 trillion yuan, according to the ministry's data. The service trade deficit narrowed by 152.2 billion yuan compared to the same period last year.

Knowledge-intensive services saw continued growth in trade, with imports and exports totaling 1.5 trillion yuan, up 6 percent year-on-year.

Travel service was the largest service trade category during the first half, with total trade volume reaching 1.08 trillion yuan, up 12.3 percent from a year earlier.

Notably, the exports of travel services surged 68.7 percent during the period, according to the data.