LHASA, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- The service trade export of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars in 2018, authorities said Thursday.

According to the regional department of commerce, service trade export rose 7.4 percent year on year last year.

Service trade refers to the exchange of services between economic entities, including cross-border exchanges, consumptions overseas, businesses and population flows.

Meanwhile, import in service trade expanded 18.9 percent year on year to more than 28 million U.S. dollars in 2018, according to the department head Penpa.

"We will continue to speed up the development of service trade in the future by cultivating aviation, cross-border tourism and tax-free consumption," Penpa said.