(2020 Service Trade Fair) Observation of Service Trade Fair: How to eliminate global service trade barriers?

　　China News Service, Beijing, September 6 (Reporter Pang Wuji) In the past ten years, the growth rate of cross-border service trade has surpassed that of goods trade, becoming a new driving force for global trade and world economic growth.

Service trade is the focus of development and competition among countries.

However, the current development of global service trade still faces multiple challenges including policy barriers.

On September 4, the 2020 China International Service Trade Fair opened in Beijing.

This Service Trade Fair is the first major international economic and trade event held offline by China since the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic.

The picture shows the outdoor exhibition area of ​​the Service Trade Fair taken on the evening of September 4.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Tian Yuhao

　　How to eliminate service trade barriers and open up the service industry value chain?

During the ongoing 2020 China International Trade in Services Fair, heads of international organizations, multinational companies, and think tank experts gave suggestions.

　　One is to reduce the difficulty of "entering" and further lower the barriers to entry.

　　Steven Alan Barnett, chief representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in China, said that a number of international organizations believe that countries have a strong influence on cross-border service trade and the entry and ownership of foreign service providers. And operating restrictions are widespread.

　　These restrictions form obstacles to the "entry" of multinational corporations, and multinational corporations are the main body that promotes the globalization of the service industry.

Jens Eskelund, president of global shipping logistics giant Maersk (China) Co., Ltd., said here, “As a multinational company, we have operations in more than 130 countries and we need market access.”

He believes that the reciprocity of market access is a fundamental measure to promote the elimination of barriers to trade in services.

　　Continuing to relax market access for the service industry and actively expand imports of high-quality services are precisely China's commitment to opening up.

Zhang Junkuo, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, pointed out that the current and future reforms that China will focus on include further improving the negative list management system, improving the national treatment system before and after foreign investment access, and comprehensively cleaning up the negative foreign investment access. There are separate restrictions on foreign investment in areas outside the list.

　　The second is to lower barriers "behind the border".

　　In the past, people put more emphasis on how to lower the barriers on the "frontier" of market access, but with the in-depth development of service trade, the issue of barriers "behind the border" has attracted more and more attention.

Some foreign businessmen may be blocked by “glass doors” and “spring doors” such as industry qualifications, local registrations, or some vague laws and regulations.

Clearing these barriers is as important as lowering barriers to entry.

　　Victoria Kwakwa, senior vice president of the World Bank Group’s Asia-Pacific region, said that today’s barriers to trade in services are usually “post-entry” regulatory measures, including discriminatory policies, such as preserving markets for existing domestic companies and restricting competition from foreign companies. Wait.

These barriers are also reflected in the increase in trade costs, which may come from: obtaining information about applicable rules and requirements, certification and conformity assessment procedures, and uncertainty in the implementation or management of procedural requirements.

　　Chen Wenling, chief economist of the China Center for International Economic Exchange, emphasized that if China wants to become a hot spot for investment by multinational companies, it needs to reduce the barriers on the "border" and "behind the border", especially the "behind the border" barriers in the flow of elements of service trade. Promote cross-border interconnection and attract multinational companies to form a smoother capital chain in China.

　　The third is to strengthen the coordination of relevant policies such as national supervision and improve efficiency.

　　Yanci pointed out that if governments of various countries can cooperate and begin to coordinate their supervision and policies, such as quarantine policies, import and export restrictions, etc., if they can be more consistent in these aspects at the global level, services will be greatly improved. The efficiency of trade reduces the cost of multinational companies.

　　China is promoting this integration.

Zhang Qi, director of the Foreign Economic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council of China, believes that China's promotion of a higher level of opening to the outside world requires the formation of rules, supervision and regulations that are in line with international standards, including the docking of standards, systems, and systems.

Moreover, not only opening to the outside world, but also internal reforms must be carried out in a coordinated manner, with a double-effect drive and mutual promotion.

　　Fourth, to narrow the digital divide and promote the development of digital trade and the free flow of data.

　　Over the past ten years, the digital revolution has greatly promoted the development of service trade.

Wang Yida, chairman of the Supervisory Board of the National Green Development Fund, believes that the widespread application of digital technology has effectively broken the original barriers to cross-border services.

Zhang Qi also said that the digital economy has greatly reduced the cost of service trade and has also greatly improved the tradeability of services.

　　With the development of digital trade, many experts believe that technical barriers to trade in services will continue to decline.

Steven Allen Barnett said that the rapid reduction of electronic communication costs and the popularization of the Internet, especially the promotion of broadband, have made remote services possible and technical barriers have continued to decline.

(Finish)