Service trade is vital part of further opening-up

On Tuesday, President Xi Jinping vowed to further deepen reform and opening-up, including giving easier access to investment and promoting financial cooperation. These measures will also boost service trade amid escalating Sino-US trade dispute. And even if the measures are needed to facilitate China's sustainable development, they will also help reduce trade frictions with other countries.

The ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States has also put the focus on service trade, in which the US has an annual surplus of about $50 billion - a fact that Washington has maintained a studied silence on.

The share of service trade in China's total trade increased from 11.1 percent in 2012 to 15.1 percent in 2016, with intellectual property rights royalties, communications and information services, repair and maintenance services, and advertising and financial services registering the highest growth. But that is no reason for China to be complacent; instead, it should further develop its trade service in order to optimize its consumption supply structure, increase its industrial competitive advantage and expedite its technology accumulation.