Trend is expected to continue, with total exceeding $1 trillion in 2020

The nation's services trade grew faster than its goods trade in 2013, a trend that's set to continue, officials said on Thursday.

"China's trade in services maintained robust growth in 2013 and is estimated to have exceeded $520 billion, up more than 11 percent year-on-year and keeping the country the world's third-largest trader in services," Yao Jian, spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce, told reporters in Beijing.