context: Against foreign and domestic downsides, Beijing eyes services trade as a key driver of the economy. Setting sights on long-term growth, it views the sector as a ‘multiplier’: services exports support goods trade and value-added jobs in the slowing labour market, imports help bring in tech know-how and market discipline. But challenges remain, not least broader socio-economic barriers impeding reforms and geopolitical headwinds.
Peng Delei 彭德雷 East China University of Science and Technology Law School dean shares his insights on services trade
- background
- PRC services trade institutional opening is guided by three lists
- market access negative list
- applies to both domestic and foreign firms
- reduced from 117 items in 2022 to 106 in 2025
- foreign investment market access negative list
- specifies restricted or prohibited sectors for foreign investors
- initiated in 2013 in the Shanghai pilot free trade zone FTZ under a new framework
- foreign investors receive national treatment in the market access stage
- negative list approach, only sectors explicitly listed are restricted, all others are open with national treatment
- reduced from 31 items in 2021 to 29 in 2024
- national rollout in 2019
- cross-border service trade negative list
- manages foreign participation in cross-border service provision
- 71 items nationally, 68 in pilot zones
- gradual opening in sectors such as finance, healthcare and internet services
- market access negative list
- PRC services trade institutional opening is guided by three lists
- the PRC should explore integrating the market access and foreign investment negative lists into a unified list for all foreign market entities
- eliminate regulatory inconsistencies in scope, standards and procedures
- expected outcomes
- streamlined approval and consultation processes via a single service window to avoid repeated consultations with different departments
- reduced compliance and transaction costs for foreign firms
- this would align with international standards such as WTO, CPTPP and DEPA
- streamlined approval and consultation processes via a single service window to avoid repeated consultations with different departments
- policy approach
- leverage the advantages of FTZs like Shanghai and Hainan as testing grounds
- test 'two-list integration' in key services sectors like finance, telecom, internet and biomedicine
- develop internationally aligned regulatory frameworks under controlled conditions
- shorten and simplify the negative lists
- establish an 'update mechanism' to align the lists with market trends and national security needs
- build cross-departmental regulatory coordination and digital service platforms to minimise overlap and gaps
- further reduce items on the cross-border services trade negative list
- the list covers cross-border supply, consumption abroad and movement of natural persons
- scope and regulatory structure distinct from domestic investment lists
- future policy direction
- further reduce and refine the list
- recent example
- efforts in the Shanghai Eastern Hub Business Cooperation Zone allowing 30-day stays for foreign professionals
- recent example
- expanding openness in key service sectors like finance, healthcare, education and culture
- allowing more quality services to enter the PRC market
- benchmark against WTO, CPTPP and DEPTA rules and standards
- further reduce and refine the list
- explore a model integrating the above three lists
- consolidate all three negative lists into a unified framework
- cover domestic and foreign investment as well as cross-border services with consistent rules
- expected benefits
- increased transparency and predictability and reduced transaction costs for firms
- consolidate all three negative lists into a unified framework