August 20, 2021
Besides the well-known “China International Import Expo” (CIIE 进博会) in Shanghai,
another annual spectacular in China for international trade is the “China International Fair
for Trade in Services” (CIFTIS 服贸会), to be staged in Beijing from September 2nd to 7th
this year. What is the position of service trade of China in the world? What are the new
measures of China for free trade in services under the RCEP framework and its
experiment on a “negative list” for cross-border service delivery? Prof. Dr. Tang Zhimin,
the director of CASPIM, shared his observations in an interview with People’s Daily:
According to the Trade Map of WTO, China has been the world second largest service
trader for the past 7 years. As the global second largest market for services, China
imported service of $381 billion in 2020. In the first half of 2021, its fast growing sectors
of service export are: culture & entertainment (37.9%), telecommunication & information
(27.1%), and royalty for Intellectual Property (IP) (21.0%), those for import include
financial service (25.6%) and royalty for IP (14.2%). The market size and growth
momentum in the country will make CIFTIS an attractive platform for global exhibitors,
displaying their visions and gadgets in aspiring domains like digital economy, carbon
neutrality, health and wellness.
Open and inclusive trade in services is also a key agenda in Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership (RCEP), inked last November by 10 ASEAN countries and their 5
partners including China. All RCEP members committed to adopt immediately or within 6
years, a negative list for service trade. The commitment of China, a positive list to start
with, covers all 12 service sectors, with 22 more sub-sectors and 37 sub-sectors with
higher level open-up comparing its commitment to WTO decades ago. To match these
commitments, China issued “The General Plan for Pilot Projects on Deepening Innovation
and Development of Service Trade” with 8 general tasks and 122 measures, in areas like
service trade open-up, facilitation, and innovation; Hainan Special Economic Zone also
pioneered with China’s first negative list for cross border service trade. It defines
industries with restrictions for foreign companies. Foreign companies are free to operate
in Hainan in industries not included in this negative list.
The CIFTIS exhibitors may witness or testify China’s above mentioned actions for open
and inclusive trade in services. Year 2020 saw a contraction of global service trade due to
stagnation of tourism and travel under the claw of Covid-19 pandemic. CIFTIS may
inspire a hope for the recovery of global service trade with its dialogues for cooperation.