Officials during a forum at this year's China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) on Sept. 13 stressed China's significant contributions to global trade in services. The forum, entitled the Forum on New Trends in the Opening-Up and Development of Trade in Services, focused on the expansion and development of trade in services. 

Ulrik Vestergaard Knudsen, OECD deputy secretary-general, shared OECD's latest insights saying: "Services continue to be a major driver of trade growth globally. In the first quarter of 2024, trade in services reached 8% growth year over year, largely supported by the recovery of international travel, in particular in Asia."

"China is a major contributor to global trade in services," he added, further highlighting that China has achieved significant progress in liberalizing its service sector and that "there are opportunities to build on this process."

The Digital Trade Development and Cooperation Report 2024 released at the forum shows that in 2023 China's total import and export of digital services reached $366.6 billion, an increase of 3.5% year on year and up 0.3 percentage point from the previous year.

The report indicated that China's digital trade has grown steadily, reaching new heights. In terms of international market share, China's digital service exports accounted for 4.9% of the global total in 2023, an increase of 1.6 percentage points compared to 2019. Regarding trade balance, China has achieved a surplus for five consecutive years starting in 2019, with digital services' net export value reaching $47.4 billion in 2023, an increase of 11.1% year on year.

Reforms that were outlined during the recently concluded third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in particular, indicate China's commitment to further market opening. The OECD deputy secretary-general denoted China's dedication by expressing that these reforms established compliance mechanisms that are aligned with prevailing international rules as well as the application of a negative list to cross-border trade in services, conveying an important signal in this regard.

Steven Barnett, IMF senior resident representative, also stressed that: "The growth in China's service sector over the past decades has helped boost productivity. Moreover, we see the potential for the service sector—through further reform and opening up—to contribute even more to GDP growth."

The Chinese government has reaffirmed its commitment to fostering the growth of services trade, emphasizing innovative development and digitalization, said Long Guoqiang, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council. 

He continued that in recent months, several policy measures have been introduced to facilitate market access and promote cross-border trade, such as guidelines released at the beginning of this month to promote high-quality development of trade in services with high-standard opening up.

Long emphasized that China's abundant human resources – such as over 10 million university graduates annually – provide a strong foundation for the service industry's continued growth.

You Jun, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, also highlighted the Chinese government's priority on international service trade, focusing on institutional opening up and cross-border resource flow.

He cited Beijing's "two zones" initiative—creating a pilot free trade zone and a national comprehensive demonstration zone—as a model. The city's efforts also include easing market access in research, education, healthcare and culture, removing foreign equity restrictions in value-added telecom services as well as pioneering trade facilitation policies.

Yu Jun, director general of the International Cooperation Department at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that China's rapid development in service trade not only enhances global economic resilience but also invigorates global economic development. 

She went on to stated that, with the Belt and Road Initiative developing, China's international cooperation in service trade has expanded significantly, leading to more frequent exchanges with countries and regions along the route, underlining that China's large market is poised to become a significant opportunity for the world.