Science and Technology Daily reporter Liu Yuanyuan Fu Lili
From November 5th to 11th, the 3rd China International Import Expo (hereinafter referred to as "CIIE") was held in Shanghai.
The "China Service Import Report 2020" officially released during the CIIE shows that since 2013, China's service imports have ranked second in the world for 7 consecutive years.
The report shows that in 2019, China's top ten service import sources were the United States, Japan, Australia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, Singapore, Russia, and France, with service imports totaling US$264.22 billion, accounting for 52.7% of China's service imports. .
China's service imports increase by 8.6% annually
"China's service imports are getting bigger and bigger." Chen Chunjiang, Director of the Department of Trade in Services of the Ministry of Commerce, said at the press conference.
Chen Chunjiang introduced that from 2012 to 2019, China's service imports increased by 8.6% annually to reach US$50.68 billion, which was 4.8 percentage points higher than the global growth rate during the same period, and its share in the global market increased to 8.6%.
Moreover, the quality of China's service imports is getting higher and higher.
Chen Chunjiang introduced that, on the one hand, the import of life services is developing towards high quality, which has enriched the good life of the Chinese people.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, travel imports have grown at an average annual rate of 16.8%, 3.6 times the global growth rate over the same period, and personal cultural and entertainment services imports have grown at an average annual rate of 33.7%, 5 times the global growth rate.
On the other hand, imports of productive services have steadily increased, which has boosted the high-quality development of the Chinese economy.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, imports of telecommunications computers and information services have grown at an average annual rate of 23.3%, 3.5 times the global growth rate; imports of financial services have grown at an average annual rate of 16.1%, 5.7 times the global growth rate.
Contribution to global service growth ranks first in the world
The contribution of China's service imports to the world economy cannot be underestimated.
"Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has imported 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars in services, contributing 17.1% of the global service import growth, and its contribution to global service growth ranks first in the world." Chen Chunjiang said.
The report shows that since joining the World Trade Organization, China has imported US$4.7 trillion in services, an average annual growth rate of 15.2%, which is much higher than the global average of 7.7% in the same period. It has contributed 10.8% to the growth of global service imports, which is a global boost. The number one force in the growth of service imports.
China's digital service imports have also driven the growth of global digital trade.
According to Chen Chunjiang, according to the statistical caliber used in the relevant reports of the World Trade Organization, since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has imported 834.51 billion U.S. dollars of digital services, an average annual increase of 6%, and contributed 4.4% to the growth of global digital service imports.
From January to August 2020, China's digital service imports were US$89.01 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%.
China's pilot free trade zone expanded to 21
"In recent years, China has continuously consolidated the foundation for opening up the service industry." Chen Chunjiang said.
According to Chen Chunjiang, in 2013, China established the first free trade zone in Shanghai. In the past seven years, China's free trade zone has expanded to 21, and a total of 260 institutional innovations have been replicated and promoted nationwide.
In 2015, a comprehensive pilot program for expanding the opening up of the service industry in Beijing was launched. In 2020, the Hainan Free Trade Port will be promoted to explore first and the overall plan for the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port will be released.
In addition, China has also released the "Negative List of Special Administrative Measures for Foreign Investment Access 2020", and the "Negative List of Foreign Investment Access" has been reduced from 63 in 2017 to 33.
Source: Science and Technology Daily