BEIJING, July 6 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of China's key business news from the past week:

SERVICE TRADE

China's service trade climbed 3.5 percent year on year to 2.19 trillion yuan (about 318.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first five months of the year, data showed Thursday.

In breakdown, service exports rose 10.3 percent to hit 777 billion yuan during the period, while that of imports gained 0.1 percent to 1.41 trillion yuan, leading to a deficit of 635.2 billion yuan in service trade, down 10.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

CONSUMPTION GROWTH

China's consumption growth is expected to reach 8.2 percent in the first half of the year, remaining at medium-high speed, a commerce official said Tuesday.

The country's consumption market has maintained overall stability so far this year, with the total retail sales of consumer goods up 8.1 percent year on year in the January-May period said the MOC.

HOME PRICES

China's home prices stayed largely stable during the first half of the year, according to a report from the China Index Academy.

Average home prices in 100 cities monitored by the academy rose 1.45 percent in the first six months, slowing from 2.64 percent a year ago.

Average monthly sales in first-tier cities jumped 38.5 percent year on year to 570,000 square meters. Second-tier and third-tier cities saw their monthly sales fall 1.4 percent and 12 percent, respectively, to 750,000 square meters and 300,000 square meters.

PRODUCTION SAFETY

China saw improvements in production safety with fewer accidents and casualties in the first half of this year, according to the Ministry of Emergency Management.

From January to June, the numbers of accidents and casualties nationwide decreased 19.8 percent and 18.9 percent respectively year on year, while the number and casualties of severe accidents also dropped 13.9 percent and 18.3 percent respectively from a year earlier.

INTERNET FIRMS

China's major Internet firms reported double-digit growth in combined revenue in the first five months, official data showed.

Companies above the designated size in Internet and related sectors raked in 428.2 billion yuan from January to May, up 19.4 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.