Advertisement
China trade
ChinaPolitics

China’s Xi Jinping vows to open service sector to boost cross-border trade and investment

  • Chinese President Xi Jinping says country will ease market access in areas such as telecoms, tourism, law and vocational exams
  • However, Beijing must bring domestic standards in line with international norms and address national security concerns before opening up, expert says

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
7
China plans to open up its service sector, including the tourism industry. Source: Bloomberg
He Huifengin Guangdong

China will open wider in several service industries to promote cross-border trade and investment, President Xi Jinping said on Saturday.

Advertisement
In a video address to the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, Xi said China would ease market access in the country’s service sector, promote the opening of the cross-border services trade and steadily expand “institutional opening-up”, a term that refers to reforming domestic standards to bring them in line with international norms.
According to Xi, China will carry out negotiations on the so-called negative list for trade and investment in services and open wider in areas such as telecommunications, tourism, law and vocational examinations.

05:18

Is youth joblessness worsening in China? Beijing’s official figures offering fewer clues

Is youth joblessness worsening in China? Beijing’s official figures offering fewer clues

Zhao Xijun, a finance professor at Renmin University in Beijing, said boosting services trade and opening the sector would be a challenge for China as they involved different standards adopted by different countries and cultures.

“China has a great market for various services, including telecoms, law, tourism and vocational exams. However, the government has a lot of work to do to align domestic standards with international norms,” Zhao said.

“In addition, there are national security concerns to address. Before a full opening up of the service sector, a mechanism for dispute resolution must be worked out,” he said.

Advertisement

China has faced a sluggish domestic economic recovery since ending its rigid Covid-19 restrictions in December.

On Friday, Beijing released its latest set of support measures to lift household consumption, rescue the property market and shore up the yuan. The policies are so far some of the most substantial to boost post-Covid consumption, including lowering rates for existing mortgage holders and tax cuts for families with children and elderly relatives.
Advertisement