BEIJING -- China's foreign trade in services expanded faster in the third quarter of this year, driven by Chinese enthusiasm for overseas tours and external demand for high value-added services, latest official figures showed.

Trade in services jumped 20.9 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, compared with 15.8 percent in the second quarter and 10.6 percent in the first, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

During the period, imports gained 25.5 percent, almost double the growth rate of exports, the ministry said.

In the first three quarters, China imported $323.7 billion worth of services, up 18.3 percent year- on-year. It exported $171.63 billion, up 11.6 percent.

The growth in imports was mainly driven by outbound tourism, with imports of tourist services soaring 50 percent in the first three quarters and accounting for 58.1 percent of total service imports.

Meanwhile, exports of high value-added services continued to increase rapidly, the ministry data showed. Exports of telecom, computer and information services rose 19.1 percent in the first three quarters, while intellectual property royalties surged 80.3 percent.

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

In the first three quarters, China's total trade in services rose 15.9 percent to $495.33 billion. It accounted for 14.6 percent of China's total foreign trade, up 2.7 percentage points from a year earlier.

China has been trying to boost its service sector to make it a new engine of economic growth, which has slowed amid an industrial glut and tepid foreign demand for manufactured goods.