People visit the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)
BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- China's trade in services is expected to usher in fast development in the second half (H2) of this year as a basket of favorable policies will be unveiled during the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) scheduled to take place from September 2 to 7 in Chinese capital city Beijing, reported China Securities Journal Wednesday.
The service trade of China has presented a sound growth momentum since the beginning of this year. Data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed that from January to June this year, China's service imports and exports totaled 2.38 trillion yuan, up 6.7 percent year on year, with export value up 23.6 percent to 1.13 trillion yuan and import value down 5 percent to 1.25 trillion yuan.
The policies to be introduced during the CIFTIS will focus on opening-up expansion and innovative development of trade in services.
The State Council, China's cabinet, decided in August last year to carry out trials for deepening the innovative development of trade in services in an all-round way in 28 regions nationwide within a period of three years. Insiders expect such trials to receive more policy support.
Currently, the 122 trial measures have been propelled in an orderly manner, and positive progress has been made, said MOC spokesperson Gao Feng, adding that MOC will continue to strengthen support and guidance for pilot regions and accelerate the replication and promotion of institutional achievements.
In terms of opening-up expansion, the comprehensive pilot areas for expanding opening-up of trade in services have expanded from Beijing to Tianjin Municipality, Shanghai Municipality, Hainan Province and Chongqing Municipality in April this year.
With the advancement of the above-mentioned trials and the construction of services outsourcing demonstration cities, export bases for digital, cultural and traditional Chinese medicine services and other platforms, China's service trade may resume rapid growth in H2 with exports continuing to grow and the service trade deficit further narrowed, noted Zheng Wei, an associate researcher with the China Outsourcing Institute under MOC.
According to Zheng, transport and construction services may continue to recover, travel services may remain on the downside if the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread globally, and knowledge and technology-intensive services may record further increase in trade value.
(Edited by Gu Shanshan with Xinhua Silk Road, gushanshan.1987@163.com)
A single purchase
