BEIJING - China's total service trade rose 2.6 percent to 1.29 trillion yuan ($191 billion) in the first quarter of 2019, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed Thursday.

Export of services totaled 463.49 billion yuan, up 10.3 percent, while import edged down 1.3 percent to 828.49 billion yuan, the ministry said in a statement.

The country's service trade deficit was 365 billion yuan, down 14.3 percent year-on-year.

In the first quarter, the share of service trade in the country's total foreign trade stood at 15.6 percent, one percentage point higher than the share for the whole of 2018.

The higher share showed that China's service trade continued to maintain the trend of stable and sound development, the statement said.