People visit the China International Trade in Services Fair 2022 at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. [Photo by Zhang Wei/chinadaily.com.cn]
China’s services trade is expected to act as a thriving long-term force to support the country’s economic expansion, experts and business leaders said.
This comes after years of watching the nation’s influence in the services sector widened by factors such as the meteoric growth of foreign creative and cultural trade and knowledge-intensive services, they said.
Many opportunities have been created by increasing exports of human capital-intensive services, growing consumer demand for high-quality imports of foreign services, and further integration of traditional manufacturing and modern services. , as well as lower export volumes of labor-intensive Chinese products. said Wei Jianguo, vice president of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges in Beijing.
As the education level of young Chinese workers continues to improve, the nation’s role in the international industrial chain has also transformed from a “global factory” to a “global office.” Companies in areas such as software design and modern logistics will create more jobs for China in the long run, said Jiang Xiaojuan, president of the Beijing-based China Society for Public Administration.
Trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible goods such as transport, finance, tourism, telecommunications, construction, advertising, IT and accounting.
“There is still a huge advantage in the development of China’s service trade. The scope of this industry has expanded to artificial intelligence, metaverse and other fields, with huge potential and strong momentum of growth,” said Lawrence Jin, head of Deloitte’s global practice. Chinese service group.
He said the regional comprehensive economic partnership, which entered into force in January, will bring transparency and predictability to the development of services trade in the region and provide more opportunities for service providers, covering finance, telecommunications , logistics and professional services, in RCEP member economies.
By focusing more on service trade opening, green growth and digitalization, China will help emerging companies conduct innovative business in its comprehensive bonded zones. It will also encourage the import of technologies and services for energy and carbon reduction and expand the export of green and low-carbon technologies, Jin added.
The value of China’s services trade jumped 20.7% year on year to 3.39 trillion yuan ($489 billion) in the first seven months of 2022, while imports and exports of knowledge-intensive services totaled 1.42 billion yuan, up 10.2% year on year. earlier, the Commerce Department said.
China has also accelerated the pace of new infrastructure and urbanization projects to further support its economic growth.
As a result, the Swiss technology company ABB Group plans to increase its market share thanks to the growing demand for smart buildings and electrical installations. The company said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges to running cities and businesses across China.
But the application of big data, artificial intelligence, 5G and other technologies in the fight against the disease has enabled the country to harness the potential of digitalization and smart technologies in city management and business growth, said Roy Yang, ABB’s director of marketing and sales for smart buildings and smart energy divisions in China.
The company’s technology has been used by many domestic companies and even by sports venues for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, to optimize energy consumption and reduce costs operating, Yang said. He added that ABB would invest more resources in the energy storage industry, data centers and charging facilities for electric vehicles in the coming years.
As the government seeks to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, it encourages the implementation of upgrading strategies in pilot free trade zones , supports the growth of trade in services and provides foreign businesses with greater transparency and certainty in all related fields, said Wang Shouwen, Vice Minister of Commerce.
