BEIJING - China's service trade deficit narrowed in September thanks to a surplus from processing services, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) said Tuesday.

The deficit stood at 146 billion yuan ($22 billion) in September, down from 164.1 billion yuan in August, SAFE said.

Income from trade in services was 120.1 billion yuan, while expenditure totaled 266.1 billion yuan.

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

Tourism is a major source of service trade deficit. The tourism deficit stood at 114 billion yuan in September.

China regularly registers a deficit in service trade as its service sector is less competitive than a number of other economies.

The government has channeled more energy into the sector and rolled out measures to improve it, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture and medical sectors.