Investment in services pays off after 15 years

Nation's capital reaps financial reward as sector's trade grows from $16b to $160b in nearly two decades

Beijing has made great efforts to develop its service industry and achieved marked progress in the sector in nearly two decades. The progress has reinforced Beijing's leading position in China, according to the local government.

Between 2003-18, the city's foreign trade in services increased from $16.24 billion to $160.62 billion. Average annual growth was 16.5 percent, ranking first nationally.

The Beijing government has rolled out a series of policies to promote trade in services and has encouraged local businesses to expand worldwide.

The city has conducted trade cooperation with more than 200 countries and regions. More than 1,000 service companies in Beijing have launched foreign businesses.

According to official statistics, Beijing's trade in services accounts for 20 percent of the country's total and more than 1 percent of the world's total.

Data from the Ministry of Commerce show foreign trade in service in the capital reached 1.06 trillion yuan ($153.91 billion) last year. Of that, exports of services totaled 372.43 billion yuan and imports reached 690.46 billion yuan.

Beijing's foreign trade in tourism services totaled 296 billion yuan. This accounted for 27.8 percent of the city's total foreign trade in services, its largest portion.

The export of modern services, including insurance, finance, telecommunication and information, accounted for 64.5 percent of total export trade. It increased by 1.8 percentage points compared to 2017.

Behind the growth is governmental support. Approved by the State Council, Beijing became one of 17 national pilot areas of innovative development of service trade in mid-2018.

In cooperation with the city's 16 districts, the Beijing Commerce Bureau released plans to enhance the industry's development.

According to the plans, Beijing will improve funding and roll out new financial policies to create public service platforms and promote six key service sectors. Those sectors include finance, technology, information and cultural creation.

The capital will also strengthen the monitoring and assessment of major service trade enterprises and promote the upgrade of highend and international service outsourcing.

Service trade enterprises are encouraged to expand in overseas markets by attending global summits. For example, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the GeekWire Summit in the United States and the Gamescom Fair in Germany will help enterprises learn about the latest trends and expand business channels.

Beijing will continue to expand the export of modern services and improve the liberalization of and support for trade services. It will be part of efforts to enhance the city's international competitiveness in service trade, according to local government.

caoyingying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/29/2019 page12)