BEIJING - China's service trade deficit rose in November after two months of declines, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Wednesday.

The deficit stood at 120.8 billion yuan ($18.4 billion) last month, up from 117.5 billion yuan in October, the SAFE data showed.

Income from trade in services was 124.9 billion yuan, while expenditures totaled 245.7 billion yuan.

Trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transportation, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, computing and accounting.

China regularly registers a deficit in service trade due to huge domestic demand.

The government has channeled more energy into improving the service sector, including measures to gradually open up the finance, education, culture and medical industries.