BEIJING: China's trade deficit in services narrowed to $16 billion in February compared with $20.7 billion in January, the foreign exchange regulator said on Monday.

February's gap was largely due to a $15.5 billion gulf in spending between Chinese who spent more abroad than foreign tourists in China, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed.

In the first two months, the services trade deficit stood at $36.7 billion yuan, according to Reuters' calculation.

China had a $25.9 billion surplus on trade of goods in February, according to SAFE data.

Copyright Reuters, 2016