Chi Fulin: China's trade in services has great potential for development

Changsha, 20 Oct (Xinhua) -- Chi Fulin, president of the China (Hainan) Reform and Development Research Institute, delivered a video keynote speech at the first session of the Boao Forum for Asia Global Economic Development and Security Forum held in Changsha, Hunan Province, holding that China's trade in services has great potential for development. Whether it is the transformation of the industrial structure from manufacturing to service-based, or the transformation of the consumption structure from material consumption to service-oriented consumption, the next 10-15 years will contain huge potential for the development of service trade.

Chi Fulin said that from 2010 to 2019, the nominal growth of global trade in services was 4.8%, which was twice the growth rate of trade in goods, and the proportion of trade in services in total trade increased from 20.3% to 23.8%. In terms of value added, global trade in services currently accounts for 50.8%, exceeding trade in goods. In 2020, due to the impact of the epidemic, global trade in services fell by 20%, but the trend of rapid growth in service trade in the medium and long term has not changed.

Chi Fulin said that from 2014 to 2019, China's service trade increased from 3712.09 billion yuan to 5415.30 billion yuan; the proportion of service trade in China's total foreign trade increased from 12.3% to 14.6%.

Chi Fulin said that trade in services is an important symbol to measure the high-quality development of trade, and it is also the key to promoting the industrial chain and value chain to the middle and high-end and enhancing the discourse power of global economic and trade rules. We should adapt to the general trend of rapid development of trade in services as soon as possible, take the lead in forming rules and standards that are in line with the international community in the pilot free trade zone, build an institutional system for the development of trade in services, and lead China to accelerate the establishment of a new mechanism for a high-level open economy. (End)