Service Outsourcing Grows

Gu Xueming， dean of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce， said at a recent forum on the global service outsourcing industry that as a typical form of digital trade， Chinas service outsourcing industry had already grown into a trillion yuan industry， playing an increasingly important role in stabilizing foreign trade， employment， and industrial transformation and upgrading.

According to Gu， the world has entered an era of service economy with the service sector accounting for nearly 68 percent of the worlds GDP in 2019. Last year， China exported more than US $140 billion in digital services， accounting for more than 50 percent of its total export in services.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of service outsourcing with the service outsourcing development system constantly being improved. The 31 demonstration cities continue to be innovative and dynamic， and service outsourcing is accelerating its development in the direction of high technology， high added value， high quality， and high efficiency.

Financial System to Transfer More Benefits to the Real Economy

According to data of the Peoples Bank of China（PBC） and the China Insurance Regulatory Commission （CIRC）， during the first 10 months of 2020， Chinas financial system transferred about RMB 1.25 trillion of benefits to the real economy through cutting interest rates， deferment of principal， and interest payments by medium-sized， small， and micro businesses. This included small and micro credit loans， reducing fees， and supporting enterprises in restructuring， and debtto-equity swaps.

In the next stage， the PBC and the CIRC will implement the arrangements of central authorities to maintain the stability of policies. Meanwhile， China will make its policies more precise and direct， to better facilitate the transfer and ensure that the full-year target of RMB 1.5 trillion will be realized.

At the same time， the regulatory authorities will also prevent and mitigate financial risks. The current risks of Internet finance has been lowered effectively with the number of P2P online lending institutions dropping from about 5，000 at the peak period to three at present.

Policy Introduced to Promote Innovative Development of Foreign Trade

China unveiled new guidelines on the innovative development of foreign trade recently， in a bid to foster a stable trade environment under a new development pattern domestically and uncertainties in the overseas market.

The policy is under the guidance of the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era， and echoes the 14th Five-Year Plan （2021-2025） for Social and Economic Development.

According to the guidelines， China will open up wider to the outside world through deepening innovation in science and technology， institutions， and business models. It will also improve its standing on the international market， boost domestic market， strengthen its business entities， and upgrade commodity structures and trade patterns， among other measures， to foster new advantages in participating in international cooperation and competition under new circumstances.

The guidelines specify measures covering nine areas to promote trade development， including searching for new ways to explore the international market， optimizing the domestic layout of foreign trade， and enhancing the competitiveness of foreign trade companies.

China to Expand Imports of Quality Services

At the launch of Chinas Service Import Report 2020， a spokesman from the Ministry of Commerce says the ministry will take multiple measures to further promote the importation of quality services. It is estimated that during the next five years， Chinas service imports will grow faster than the global average， and its accumulative service imports are expected to reach US $2.5 trillion， accounting for more than 10 percent of worlds total.

Despite the temporary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Chinas economy， the longterm goal of Chinas service imports has not changed， the report said. During the next five years， Chinas imports of travel services are expected to exceed US $1 trillion. Imports of intellectual property rights， telecommunications and information services， financial services， insurance services， and other digital services will total more than US $1.3 trillion.

In the next phase， China will continue to build an open platform for the innovative development of trade in services on a trial basis， lift or relax restrictions on cross-border trade in services， continue to improve the business environment for trade in services， and import more high-quality services.