Services sector opening-up to boost MNCs

China's efforts to deepen opening-up in its services sector will unlock new opportunities for foreign companies, as policymakers steer the economy toward innovation, consumption and higher-value growth, said market watchers and business leaders.

They said foreign companies in the services sector believe that initiatives such as the "Investing in China" and "Shopping in China" will continue to attract overseas investment, while easier market access will provide broader opportunities in key sectors including finance, consulting, culture and tourism, education and healthcare.

After issuing new guidelines to boost services consumption across traditional sectors such as eldercare and childcare, and emerging areas like inbound consumption and live performances in early April, the Ministry of Commerce said China will accelerate opening-up in the services sector, expanding pilot programs in telecommunications, biotechnology and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, while refining the cross-border services negative list.

As it seeks to expand its footprint in China, German testing, inspection and certification company Dekra Group will bring two new testing centers online in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and Chongqing in the second half of this year, expanding its services for automotive components, consumer electronics and other industries.

Kilian Aviles, Dekra's executive vice-president and head of the Asia-Pacific region, said China has become a key growth engine for the company's Asia-Pacific operations, as further opening-up of the services sector creates a more favorable environment for multinational companies.

China's value-added output in the services sector reached 20.61 trillion yuan ($3.02 trillion) in the first quarter, up 5.2 percent year-on-year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show.

Against this backdrop, Swiss hybrid workspace platform International Workplace Group (IWG) said its growth momentum has carried into 2026 after its fastest expansion in China last year, with 80 new workplace signings.

More than 10 new centers have already opened or are set to begin operations by early May, including projects in Xi'an, Shaanxi province; Nantong, Jiangsu province; and Hefei, Anhui province.

Edward Hu, president of IWG China, said China's continued opening-up of the services sector and efforts to improve the business environment are key drivers of growth, with policy support for services consumption and urban development underpinning demand for flexible office space.

As China has launched the "Shopping in China" initiative through measures such as streamlining visa procedures and improving departure tax refund arrangements to enhance its appeal as a consumption hub, it has a great variety of goods, services and amenities to offer, unlike small tourism economies, said Chen Yong, an associate professor at EHL Hospitality Business School, a Swiss hospitality management university.

The country's emergence as a shopping destination is driven less by traditional retail strengths — where markets such as London and Singapore hold clear advantages — than by its comparative strengths in manufacturing and supply capacity, enabling it to meet a wide range of consumer demand, Chen said.

"In this context, inbound tourism can be viewed as another form of trade in goods, with China effectively acting as an exporter by leveraging its supply-side advantages. Evidence suggests that shopping-driven travel is particularly attractive to short-haul markets, including Russia and Southeast Asian nations," he added.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn