Inject new impetus into the development of countries along the line, and service trade boosts high-quality cooperation along the "the Belt and Road"

Service trade is the most dynamic area of global trade. At the 2023 China International Trade in Services Fair, the sixth "the Belt and Road" Service Trade Cooperation Summit Forum jointly sponsored by the United Nations International Trade Center and the China Association for Trade in Services was held yesterday. Several guests mentioned that international exchanges and cooperation between China and countries along the "the Belt and Road" in the field of service industry are forming a comprehensive, multi-level and diversified open cooperation pattern, contributing to the global economic recovery.

Promoting Economic Development of Countries Along the Belt and Road

Dorothy Tengbo, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations International Trade Center, said that in recent years, China's trade cooperation with countries along the "the Belt and Road" has reached an unprecedented level. The proportion of trade between China and countries along the "the Belt and Road" in the total trade value will rise from 20% in 2013 to 32.9% in 2022. More and more extensive connections and more frequent economic and trade exchanges have supported China's "the Belt and Road" initiative to continue to advance in depth. Simplifying cross-border trade procedures, reducing trade costs, effectively promoting the economic and social development of countries along the "the Belt and Road", and attracting more investment in services.

Zhou Chenghu, president of the China Association for Trade in Services and academician of the CAS Member, pointed out that the "the Belt and Road" has achieved fruitful results in terms of hard connectivity of infrastructure, soft connectivity of planning standards, and connectivity of people's hearts in countries along the line. China has signed more than 200 cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and 32 international organizations to jointly build the "the Belt and Road". In 2022, the import and export scale of China and the countries along the "the Belt and Road" will reach a new high, accounting for 32.9% of China's total foreign trade output value of service trade. The construction of the China Europe freight train has transformed Central Asian countries from former land-based countries to neighboring countries on land. The construction of the China Laos Railway has transformed Laos from the only landlocked country among ASEAN countries into a golden thoroughfare with unique advantages, which has brought a significant impact on Laos' economic and social development.

Meeting venue

Enhance the business environment of countries along the route

Long Guoqiang, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, pointed out that the cooperative development of the service trade of the "the Belt and Road" is of great significance to the economic development of countries along the line.

He said that most of the countries along the "the Belt and Road" are developing countries and need to promote industrialization, which is closely related to the development of trade in services. The "the Belt and Road" service trade cooperation has strongly promoted the upgrading of producer services and professional services in countries along the Belt and Road. This is conducive to improving the business environment of countries along the route and attracting more manufacturing investment.

The development of service trade of countries along the "the Belt and Road" is also conducive to building the country's international competitiveness. For example, about 80% of the foreign exchange income of a country along the line depends on the international tourism service industry. Under the "the Belt and Road" initiative, it uses the advantages of the service industry to convert into foreign exchange income, which is used to import scarce technologies and equipment.

Significant progress has been made in three areas

Yi Xiaozhun, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Commerce and former Deputy Director General of the World Trade Organization, believed that with the gradual deepening of the "the Belt and Road" cooperation mechanism and the increasingly improved cooperation network, China's trade in services ushered in favorable development opportunities, and the breadth and depth of trade in services with countries along the line were expanding, and great progress had been made in e-commerce, digital trade, TCM promotion and other aspects.

Cross border e-commerce, as a new type of business, is flourishing, greatly increasing the demand for logistics, warehousing, payment, finance, compliance, and other aspects, thereby increasing the proportion of service trade in China's foreign trade. The continuous expansion of China Europe freight trains, accelerated construction of new land sea channels, and construction of overseas warehouses have provided strong support for the development of cross-border e-commerce.

In recent years, China has formed a certain advantageous position in fields such as information and communication, computer services, etc. Fully utilize its technological advantages and guide digital trade towards a knowledge intensive direction. China's active practices in digital trade rules, digital security and digital value chain also provide reference and support for the soft connectivity of countries along the "the Belt and Road".

The "going global" of Chinese medicine provides an important carrier for China to carry out deeper opening and exchanges with countries along the "the Belt and Road". The export of traditional Chinese medicine to the sea provides more choices for the people of countries along the route in medical services. Establishing medical centers overseas and building traditional Chinese medicine planting bases also help Chinese culture and traditional Chinese medicine services step onto the international stage.