Abstract: By selecting the value-added trade data of service industry in China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Germany from 2000 to 2011, this paper studies the degree of China’s service industries participating in the global division of value chain and the positions in international division of labor, then it explores the comparative advantage of service industry between China and the four trading partners. The findings show that the degree of China’s service industry participating in international division of labor is gradually deepening, but it is still at the downstream position of global value chain. On the whole, China’s service industry has comparative advantages over Japan and Germany, while it has comparative disadvantages over Britain, as for United States, China’s service industry has changed from slightly superior to slightly inferior. For different service industries, changes in the positions of international division of labor and the comparative advantages of bilateral trade are different.

Key words: value-added trade; global value chain; position in international division of labor; comparative advantage effect