Export of trade in services a priority

China will introduce a series of policy measures to further promote the export of services, and continuously optimize the policy environment of taxation and financial facilitation, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

As the country continues to promote the development of trade in services, the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will be held in Beijing from Sept 10 to 14. The fair will provide a platform for industry players to further strengthen cooperation and contribute to building an open world economy, said the commerce ministry and the local government of Beijing, the organizers.

This year, more than 70 countries and international organizations will participate in the event. Nearly 2,000 companies, including nearly 500 Fortune 500 companies and leading firms of different sectors, will attend the fair. Australia will serve as the country of honor, with nearly 60 Australian companies and institutions expected to take part in the fair.

Meanwhile, a study session held on Tuesday by the State Council, China's Cabinet, stressed the need to advance the high-quality development of trade in services and to provide strong support for building China into a leading trading nation, establishing a new, higher-standard open economic system.

As external conditions shift and domestic industrial restructuring deepens, innovation in trade in services must be given greater priority, the session said.

In the first half of this year, China's total import and export value of services reached 3.9 trillion yuan ($544.58 billion), up 8 percent year-on-year, with the scale hitting a record high for the same period, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

In particular, the export value of services reached 1.7 trillion yuan, up 15 percent year-on-year. The proportion of service exports in total foreign trade exports reached 11.5 percent, an increase of 0.7 percentage point from the same period last year. The rapid growth of service exports mainly comes from traditional service fields such as transportation and travel, the Ministry of Commerce said.

"In the second half of the year, China's services trade growth will embrace many opportunities and favorable conditions. First, trade in services globally is expected to maintain a growth trend. Besides, areas of services such as travel are foreseen to achieve rapid growth," said Sheng Qiuping, vice-minister of commerce, during a news conference in Beijing.

"In addition, the government's policy support for trade in services will be further increased. Overall, it is expected that services trade will continue to grow throughout the year and the trade structure will continue to be optimized," Sheng said.

He added that the potential of knowledge-intensive services trade has continued to be unleashed. In the first half, the export value of knowledge-intensive services reached 865.04 billion yuan, up 7.8 percent year-on-year. Among which, the export of other commercial services, telecommunications and information services is relatively large.

This year, Beijing has intensively introduced multiple policies to promote consumption growth.

"Beijing has introduced more than 20 policies for the sectors of fashion, culture, ice and snow, and catering to continuously promote the growth of new consumer products, new formats and new models," said Sima Hong, vice-mayor of Beijing.