BEIJING - China saw a widened deficit in foreign service trade in September compared with August, according to data released Friday by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

The service trade deficit was 144.4 billion yuan ($22.7 billion) in September, expanding from 143.6 billion yuan in August, and 107.6 billion yuan in July, SAFE data showed.

Income from trade in services in September stood at 115.8 billion yuan, while expenditures in service trade reached 260.2 billion yuan.

Trade in services covers intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing and accounting.

SAFE began issuing monthly data on service trade in January 2014 to improve transparency on balance of payments. Since the start of 2015, monthly data on merchandise trade has also been included in the reports.

China's State Council has pledged to accelerate the development of trade in services, including the gradual opening up of the finance, education, culture and medical treatment sectors.