As US-China decoupling threat mounts, Beijing looks to open up market for foreign services trade
- Ministry of Commerce is compiling ‘negative lists’ for the services trade, outlining sectors and industries that are restricted to foreign firms
- ‘There will be no additional restrictions imposed in the areas outside the negative lists,’ ministry researcher says
China says it is speeding up the drafting of a so-called negative list for cross-border trade in services as part of national efforts to open up key areas of the economy to foreign businesses amid mounting pressure of economic decoupling from the United States.
Foreign-investment access to the domestic market is managed via such negative lists, which detail sectors and industries that are restricted or prohibited to foreign firms.
The introduction of a negative list for the services trade would follow the June publication of an updated negative list for foreign investment access, which saw its listed sectors and industries drop to 33 from 40 last year.
Compared with the negative list for foreign investment, which mainly concerns entry permits, the services trade list is meant to address a wider range of issues, including cross-border payments and consumption in overseas markets, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
Two negative lists in the services trade are expected to be issued. The first is for the new free-trade port comprising the entire southern province of Hainan, and the second is a nationwide version.