Experts: Time for faster shift to services

Workers make export-bound gift toys at a factory in Ganyu county, Jiangsu province. Customs figures show that China's merchandise trade increased just 0.2 percent in the first five months of this year, far below the full-year target of 7.5 percent. Si Wei / China Daily

Quick measures that give services more weight in trade are needed by China, amid mounting concerns that the world's biggest merchandise trader might miss its growth target for a third consecutive year, a senior World Trade Organization official and analysts said.

Customs figures show that China's merchandise trade increased just 0.2 percent in the first five months of the year, far below the full-year target of 7.5 percent.

To meet the target, trade would have to expand by least 11 percent on average for the remainder of the year, according to Liu Xuezhi, a senior researcher at Bank of Communications Ltd.

Yi Xiaozhun, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, urged China to turn to services for trade growth, as it offers high added value and causes less environmental damage.

Yi said that even for manufactured items, about 90 percent of the value of a product lies in the service sector, such as research and development, design, logistics and branding.

Manufacturing itself only creates about 10 percent of the value.

"To increase China's competitiveness in world trade and avoid the middle-income trap, the key is to develop the service trade," he said in an interview with Chinese reporters in Geneva.

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