BEIJING, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China's service trade deficit shrank for the second consecutive month in April, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed Thursday.

The deficit stood at 24.1 billion U.S. dollars last month, down from 26.2 billion dollars in March.

Income from trade in services was about 19.2 billion dollars, while expenditures totaled 43.3 billion dollars.

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

The country has taken steps to improve the development of service trade, including gradually opening up the finance, education, culture, and medical treatment sectors.

Last month, the country registered a surplus of 29.4 billion dollars in the trade of goods.