Beijing notes priority to develop services trade

context: State Council Opinions to bolster services trade released in early September 2024, outline missions in green, smart and digital services, as well as priorities for key service areas. PRC services trade now stands at some C¥3.6 tn, rising by 14 percent y-o-y and accounting for 14.5 percent in total trade in goods and services. Services now contribute some 53 percent to the growth of the national economy. Seeing the sector as an economic driver and an important source of know-how in advanced sectors, more action to bolster services trade can be expected.

During the China International Fair for Trade in Services, Long Guoqiang 隆国强 State Council Development Research Centre deputy director shares insights on the latest developments in services trade

  • key trends
    • the sector is developing very rapidly
    • globalisation and the international division of labour will continue to deepen
  • three main characteristics of global services trade
    • digitisation
      • in the past, services trade could not be stored and had to be consumed immediately, cross-border transactions were difficult
      • with the advancement of digital technology, services such as education, telecommunication, finance and consulting can be traded across borders
        • further facilitated by technological breakthroughs in AI
    • green development
      • rise of demand for green services to address climate change
        • research, consultation, planning and green technology services
      • green development of tranditional serices
        • high-energy consuming digital computing centres
    • greater emphasis on knowledge
      • growth in knowledge-intensive services such as financial, consulting and education services
  • development of services trade in the PRC
    • abudant human resources have laid a solid foundation for its future growth potential
      • more than 10 million university graduates every year
    • the state attaches great importance to the sector
      • new plans are made in the Third Plenum which emphasised 'innnovating and upgrading services trade'
      • a range of positive policies aimed to expand the liberalisation of the sector are being rolled out
      • both the 'bringing-in' and 'going global' of services trade are to be enhanced