The Present Situation and Countermeasures of China's Service Trade Development

Trade in services is gradually becoming the focus of global economic competition. After China's entry into WTO, China's service trade has made some progress, but there are also some problems. Only by formulating effective measures can we promote the development of China's service trade.

Keywords: service trade; Current situation; Countermeasures

Since the end of last century, the focus of global economic competition has shifted from trade in goods to trade in services, and the developed degree of service industry has become an important symbol to measure the level of modernization. At present, China has entered the development stage of building a well-off society in an all-round way, so we must vigorously develop the service industry and take expanding the opening up of the service industry as an important part of China's wider participation in international competition and integration into economic globalization.

First, the development status of China's service trade

In recent years, China's service industry has achieved sustained, stable and healthy development, and the development of service industry has promoted the growth of service trade. From 65438 to 0989, China's total import and export volume of service trade ranked 30th in the world, and rose to 12 in 2000. However, due to the low starting point and poor foundation of China's service trade, there is still a big gap compared with developed countries, mainly in:

1, the overall level of service trade is poor.

The total service industry in China is insufficient, and its proportion in the national economy is low. In 200 1 year, the added value of China's service industry was 3,225.4 billion yuan, accounting for 33.6% of GDP. Compared with 46%-56% in middle-income countries and 59%-65% in high-income countries, there is still a big gap. The backward service industry has greatly restricted the development of China's service trade. In 2002, China's total service trade was US$ 66 billion, accounting for 2.3% of the global service trade. In the same period, the total service trade of the United States accounted for 16.5% of the world, more than seven times that of China. Generally speaking, except for a few industries such as tourism, most areas of service trade are in deficit. After China's entry into WTO, the service trade deficit may further expand.

2. The internal structure of service trade is unreasonable.

From 1995 to 2002, tourism services have been in the first place in China's total service exports, accounting for 27%. 6% to 36. 5%: the proportion of financial services has been around 19%; The proportion of transportation service industry is from 27. 1% to 19%. However, the emerging service industry based on information technology is an obvious weakness. 1995, the proportion of such industries in service imports is 22. 9%, and by 200 1, it has soared to 52. 4%, which is an important factor to increase China's service trade deficit.

3. Service trade management lags behind.

Because the service industry is an industrial cluster composed of many related industries, the international service trade involves a wide range of industries, and the international community requires a country to coordinate and manage its domestic service industry as a whole. At present, there are many defects in China's foreign service trade management system. For example, there are still some differences between the central and local governments in terms of foreign service trade policies and regulations. The problems of multi-head management, multiple policies and even mutual restraint in the service industry have not been completely solved. The statistics of service industry are not standardized, and many aspects such as industry standards do not conform to international practice.

4. The service trade legislation is not perfect.

For a long time, China's service trade legislation has been seriously lagging behind. Although the Commercial Bank Law, Insurance Law and Maritime Law have been promulgated in recent years, there are still many shortcomings compared with the extensive connotation of service trade and the requirements of international service trade development. At present, there is no general law on service industry in China. The existing regulations are mainly reflected in the regulations and internal documents of various functional departments, which are not only low in legislative level, but also lack of coordination, thus affecting the unity and transparency of China's service trade legislation.

Second, the impact of China's accession to the WTO on China's service trade.

After China's entry into WTO, the service market will be further opened to the outside world on the original basis, which will have a far-reaching impact on the development of China's service trade.

1. The marketization of service trade has been further accelerated.

Relaxing restrictions and opening markets are the key to developing service trade. After China's accession to the WTO, the market access of some service industries will no longer be controlled by the relevant domestic departments, but will be implemented by the China government's commitment to the WTO, which will help break the monopoly of some domestic industries, help domestic industries learn from foreign advanced experience, improve service quality and level, and further promote the development of China's service industry and the improvement of international competitiveness.

2. It is conducive to improving the investment environment in China.

The investment environment is not only reflected in the quality of hardware such as roads, communications and power supply, but also in the completeness and quality of productive services such as finance, circulation and professional services. China's service industry is generally backward, and producer services are even more backward, which is an important reason why foreign investors take a fancy to our market. Outbound tourism of service industry will attract more foreign investment into China's service industry, which will effectively promote the rapid development of service industry, especially producer service industry, improve the soft investment environment in China, and then drive the development of the whole domestic economy.

3. It is beneficial to introduce new service types.

The backwardness of China's service industry is largely manifested in the lack of service types and varieties, and many service fields need to fill the "domestic gap". Among the 143 industries classified by the World Trade Organization, China's commercial industries such as tax service, polling service and credit investigation are basically in a blank state. In many industries, there is still a big gap between specific service areas and service varieties. The opening of the service market and the entry of foreign capital will, to a certain extent, make up for the various gaps in the development of China's service industry and meet the various needs of domestic economic development and people's lives.

4. It is conducive to deeper participation in the adjustment of the world economic structure.

Driven by the trend of economic globalization, the global service industry is also brewing worldwide adjustment. China's accession to the WTO will help to take advantage of the opportunity of developed countries to transfer labor-intensive and capital-intensive service industries overseas, attract foreign investment and improve the internal structure of China's service industry. It is also beneficial for China service providers to enter the international market, implement the "going out" strategy and expand service trade exports.

Third, the main measures to enhance the competitiveness of China's service trade

1, optimize the service industry structure

Vigorously develop the modern service industry, focusing on the development of information, science and technology, consulting, law and other industries to improve the overall level of the service industry. Actively develop new service industries such as real estate, property management, tourism, education and training, culture and sports, and form new economic growth points. Restructure and transform traditional industries, use modern management methods and service technologies, and focus on transforming industries such as business circulation, transportation and catering, so as to improve technical level and operational efficiency.

2. Relax market access for service industries.

Change the situation that some industries have serious monopoly and strict market access restrictions, and gradually form an open, transparent and standardized market access system in accordance with market subject qualifications and service standards. Accelerate the reform of the management system of monopoly industries, relax the qualification conditions for market access of some industries, and encourage non-state-owned economies to participate in the development of service industries in a wider range. Reform the administrative examination and approval system for market access and reduce administrative examination and approval items.

3. Increase investment in service industry through multiple channels.

The central and local governments at all levels should properly arrange certain investments as guiding funds to accelerate the development of the service industry, which are mainly used for interest subsidies or subsidies for service industry construction projects encouraged by the state to attract more bank credit funds and social investment. On the basis of independent loan examination, banks should actively issue loans to service enterprises and their construction projects that meet the loan conditions and encourage qualified service enterprises to enter the capital market for financing.

4, strengthen the organization and leadership of the service industry

Further change ideas, unify thoughts, raise awareness, and put the service industry in the same important position as agriculture and industry. Governments at all levels should earnestly perform their duties and create a good environment for accelerating the development of the service industry. Formulate and improve laws and regulations that regulate the behavior of service market participants and market order, and provide legal protection for the development of service industry.

References:

[1] Wang Kepei. On the development prospect of China's foreign trade. Journal of Sichuan University of Science and Technology (Philosophy and Society Edition) .2003, (3).

Scout. WTO and the development of service industry in China [J]. Journal of Liangshan University. 2002，(4)。

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Problems and Countermeasures in the Development of China's Service Trade

Author: Shen update time: February 6, 2006 hits:

At present, the research on service trade mostly focuses on the globalization and liberalization of service trade and the research and discussion on the protection policy of service trade after China's entry into WTO. This paper comprehensively discusses the development status and solutions of China's service trade from a macro perspective. This paper mainly adopts the methods of theoretical analysis and empirical analysis, summary and empirical analysis, and compares the comparative advantages and disadvantages of China's service trade through the comparative study of import and export trade volume and import and export trade structure over the years. It also puts forward some corresponding countermeasures, such as perfecting the legal system of China's service trade, lowering the market access threshold, updating the concept of service trade, actively participating in bilateral and multilateral negotiations on international service trade, and promoting the liberalization of service trade, so as to vigorously develop China's service trade, enhance its international competitiveness and make it a new economic growth point of China's national economy.

Keywords: trade in services World Trade Organization General Agreement on Trade in Services

First, the status quo of China's service trade development

(A) China's import and export of service trade in recent years.

As shown in figure 1, from 65438 to 0998-2002, the total volume of China's service trade (③) kept rising, and the import volume and export volume also kept growing, but there was always a trade deficit. This proves that China's service trade is not competitive enough in the international market. This trend is difficult to change in the short term.

(B) China's current service trade system

Since 1980s, China has successively promulgated and implemented many laws, such as General Principles of Civil Law, Foreign Trade Law, Commercial Bank Law, Maritime Law, etc., and established a framework system of basic rules of service trade for people. Most of these laws refer to the corresponding provisions of continental law and Anglo-American law, and are formulated and implemented according to the international conventions to which China is a party.

At present, China has joined the WTO, and the private capital and foreign capital entering the service industry have increased rapidly, which provides great potential and development space for the development of the service industry. Moreover, the policy orientation of the country to promote the development of service industry is gradually increasing. On 200 1 1, the General Office of the State Council forwarded the Opinions of the State Planning Commission on Several Policies and Measures to Accelerate the Development of Service Trade during the Tenth Five-Year Plan, and put forward the policies and measures to accelerate the development of service industry, which is undoubtedly a powerful impetus to the development of service industry. Since then, the China Municipal Government has promulgated and implemented relevant policies and regulations in 12 major service trade areas. For example, Notice on Issuing Eight Traffic Industry Standards such as Data Dictionary of Port Management Information System, Notice of State Administration of Foreign Exchange on Relevant Issues Concerning the Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange for Non-trade Items Not Clearly Specified in Current Laws and Regulations, Notice on Strengthening the Planning of Urban Commercial Network, Notice on Investigating the Implementation of Enterprise Accounting System by Foreign-invested Enterprises, etc. China's service market has also been opened to a certain extent, such as retail, transportation, telecommunications, education and banking. And gradually realize our government's commitment to join the WTO. In order to integrate China's service trade into the world's service trade and better develop China's service trade, the General Agreement on Trade in Services of WTO has become the basis for us to build a service trade system now. Therefore, what we have drafted or are drafting now is developing in the direction of promoting and perfecting China's service trade and making the market norms of China's service trade legal system in line with the world as soon as possible.

(C) the development trend of China's service trade

The report on global trade in 2002 released by the WTO recently showed that the global trade volume increased by 2.5% last year, of which the total trade in goods was 6.24 trillion US dollars, an increase of 4% over the previous year, and the trade in services reached a record 1.54 trillion US dollars. The United States, Germany, Japan and France continue to maintain the top four positions in world trade, and China has surpassed Britain to become the fifth largest trading country in the world. According to the analysis of the report, under the background of slowing down the transnational investment of enterprises, increasing the exchange rate risk, and the conservatism of enterprises and consumers, the recovery growth of global trade in 2002 was mainly attributed to the strong demand in the US market and the rapid development of East Asian countries, especially China.

Recently, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange announced the balance of payments of China in 2002. In 2002, China's balance of payments current account surplus was $35.422 billion. According to the balance of payments statistics, the export of goods was $325,655,438+0 billion, the import of goods was $2.8148.4 million, and the surplus was $4.4167 million. The revenue of service projects was $39.745 billion, the expenditure was $46.528 billion, and the deficit was $6.784 billion. The income of income items was 8.344 billion US dollars, the expenditure was 23.289 billion US dollars, and the deficit was 65.438+0.4945 billion US dollars. In the current period, the transfer income was 6543.8 USD+03.795 billion yuan, the expenditure was 8654.38 USD +0654.38 USD+0 billion yuan, and the surplus was 6543.8 USD+02.984 billion yuan. The table shows that in 2002, China's current account, capital account and financial account continued to show a double surplus, international reserves maintained growth, and the overall balance of payments was in good condition.

This shows that the outstanding performance of China's economy in the world economy has attracted worldwide attention. Under such favorable domestic and international environment, service trade will surely develop vigorously. Although it is currently constrained by three major factors: global economic weakness, the Iraqi war and political instability caused by atypical pneumonia, China has a vast market and an efficient macro-control mechanism. Just like the Asian financial crisis and the 9. 1 1 incident in previous years, it can overcome many unfavorable factors and maintain sustained economic growth.

Second, the problems in the development of China's service trade

(A) the service trade structure is unreasonable

As shown in Figure 2, among the total service trade from 1998 to 2002, except for the main service industry in 200 1, the trade volume of service industries in other years varies greatly, with tourism, transportation and other commercial services accounting for a large proportion. Therefore, it is not difficult for us to find that China's service trade needs long-term structural adjustment in the process of development, so that the major service trade industries can achieve balanced development.

(B) The legal system and market system of service trade are not perfect.

Although the government of China has been trying to promote the reform of management system, there are always some regrettable loopholes, which have brought great obstacles to the development of service trade.

1, service monopoly. Some industries in China, such as telecommunications, finance, insurance and education, have strong monopoly, which not only destroys the normal fair competition order, but also leads to insufficient innovation motivation and low efficiency in the service industry. In order to adapt to the future development and opening environment of service industry, China's service industry must break the industry monopoly and realize the liberalization of service trade.

2. The service trade guarantee system is not perfect. The imperfection of the service trade guarantee system mainly refers to the need to adopt some special protection policies for some weak industries in the service industry, such as data processing, technical services, consulting, professional services, etc., in order to cope with the impact of foreign related industries on these industries after China's entry into WTO, so as to make them grow healthily and not die out. At present, the China government has formulated comprehensive protection policies in telecommunications, banking, education and other industries, which has also affected the liberalization of trade to some extent. Therefore, how to formulate effective trade protection policies can not only make the domestic service trade industry develop healthily, but also ensure the liberalization of trade, so it is necessary to study and study w to GATS seriously.

(C) the service trade transaction mode is backward

In the field of service trade, modern e-commerce has a profound impact on the global commercial trade pattern and market structure, affecting people's economic life and social life style, and accelerating the transformation from industrial society to information society.

According to statistics, there are more than 65,438+0,000 different e-commerce websites in China, including 4,677 B to C, 370 B to B and 5,620 ISP. Last year, the transaction volume from B to C was 390 million RMB, and that of B2B was 6.77 billion RMB. There are various business models such as B to B, B to C, C to C, as well as various e-commerce platforms and solutions, but all of them are spontaneous, partial and repetitive, lacking in technological innovation, overall planning and unified norms. The business models of many websites simply imitate foreign enterprises, which are not suitable for China's national conditions and are not conducive to the development of e-commerce. This problem has aroused widespread concern. In addition, from the reality of the current development of e-commerce in China, the network structure is complex, different industries and different networks cannot be interconnected, and it is difficult to fully share all kinds of resources. Network application lags behind the rapid development of network technology, and it is difficult for traditional enterprises to adapt to the rapid development of information technology.

It is predicted that by 2003, the global e-commerce transaction volume will exceed 1.2 trillion US dollars. The next 5- 10 years will be an important period for information technology to continue to advance by leaps and bounds, the new economy to grow rapidly, and the global economic structure to be adjusted. It will also be a crucial period for China to vigorously develop e-commerce, promote industrialization with informationization, participate in globalization and realize China's modernization. The development of e-commerce is not only a question of basic economy, nor a question of business model division, but also an important issue related to China's competitiveness and survival and development in the future information economy society.

(D) the concept of trade in services is backward

In the past, China's service trade industry was in a closed environment for a long time, bound and influenced by some old ideas, with small enterprises and poor service facilities. Backward concept and low service quality make it difficult to adapt to the economic situation of China's full opening to the outside world after China's entry into WTO, and it is even more difficult to compete with multinational companies in the field of foreign service trade.

In China's economic theory, service is still defined as a service belonging to the circulation field, so service does not create value. After WTO expanded the extension of service trade and deepened the connotation of service trade, service projects not only provided use value, but also created value. And for a long time, in the economic life of China, the service department has a unified rule to treat customers equally. In order to show that we don't care much about the poor and love the rich, for example, banks also provide loans and other services to enterprises with poor economic benefits and low capital retention rate. The result is often lost, accompanied by labor costs, communication costs and other expenses. Unlike foreign banks, which "see customers and order food", subdividing customers not only ensures the safety of foreign exchange collection, but also meets customer needs.

Third, the countermeasures to develop China's service trade.

1. Improve the basic laws on trade in services and enhance the operability of the laws. To improve the international status of China's service industry, we must start with improving the degree of industry competition, improve the service market system and enhance the operability of the law. Accelerate the formulation of industry regulations, such as commercial law, financial services regulations, telecommunications services regulations, transportation regulations, intellectual property regulations, etc. Pay attention to referring to international treaties and foreign legislative experience, strengthen legislation, straighten out the relationship between various laws and regulations and the service industry, make the laws and regulations in the field of service trade sound and coordinate with each other, and jointly form an organic whole with clear structure, clear hierarchy, mutual connection and no leakage.

2. Realize the transformation of the growth mode of service industry. It mainly refers to the transformation from extensive and extensive to intensive and connotative, so that the development of service trade and the growth of export income of service trade are really based on improving labor productivity, rather than relying on a lot of input from general labor. At the same time, in the export of service trade, while giving full play to our advantages and further expanding the export of labor-intensive services, we should also give appropriate protection to those knowledge-intensive services that are still in a "naive" state, so that they can develop as soon as possible and gradually open to the outside world. The general direction of China's service export in the future should be: general labor-intensive service export, supplemented by knowledge-intensive service export → both → knowledge-intensive service export, supplemented by general labor-intensive service export.

3. Participate in bilateral and multilateral negotiations on international service trade, and strive for a more favorable international environment. China has joined the WTO, and its negotiating position has been greatly improved. In addition, China is also the founder and drafter of GATS. All these are helpful to China's service trade negotiations. China discussed the provision and concession of trade in services with other parties, and also considered the principles and requirements of GATT in the policy legislation of trade in services. With the deepening of reform and opening up and the further strengthening of the trend of world economic integration, it is increasingly important to continue the service trade negotiations on the principle of mutual benefit.

4. Update the concept of service trade. The first is to update the concept of service trade. The definition of service trade is actually very broad, and the value created in the field of service trade can be seen in the annual WTO report. The understanding and innovation of service trade also determines the development level of service trade in various countries. Therefore, we should overcome the old and rigid concept in service trade, bring "differentiated service" to the front desk, correctly deal with the trend of service trade liberalization, and try new areas of service trade. Third, the concept of security in service trade. Since the aviation, telecommunications, finance, consulting and advertising industries are directly related to the sovereignty and security of the country, state institutions should strengthen their awareness of security, especially in the case that China's legal system is not perfect, they should adopt a policy of opening the market step by step, selectively, step by step and conditionally, deal with strategic issues in key areas related to the lifeline, sovereignty and security of the country, and implement effective supervision and management to serve the national interests.

5. Maintain and upgrade the original advantageous industries, optimize the industrial structure at the same time, find new growth points, and innovate the unknown areas of service trade. China's advantageous service industries are mainly concentrated in labor and tourism. Generally speaking, these two aspects are labor-intensive industries with relatively low scientific and technological content. But for China, they mean a lot. China is rich in tourism resources and labor resources, so our input cost in these two aspects is low and we are very competitive in the world market. For example, in 1995, China's tourism revenue was $8.733 billion; In 2000, China's tourism revenue was US$ 29.345 billion, an increase of 336% over 1995. In 2002, China's tourism revenue was $35.783 billion, an increase of 65.438+0.22% over 2000. However, while maintaining our advantages, we should also increase the investment in science and technology in these two aspects, improve the tourism environment and improve the quality of labor export, so as to give full play to our advantages. In addition, it is necessary to optimize the industrial structure of the service industry so that the emerging service industry can occupy a place in the world market.

6. Promote the liberalization of service trade step by step. Compared with developed countries, China's service trade started late, the overall development level is low, and many industries are still in the initial stage. At the same time, the service market is underdeveloped, the competitiveness of service enterprises is weak, and the service industry itself is comprehensive, complex and extensive. We should not push forward the liberalization of service trade radically, but step by step. Under the condition of ensuring the healthy and stable domestic economy, the service industry should be opened in a certain proportion to ensure that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in the process of liberalization, globalization and integration of service trade.

7. Vigorously develop e-commerce. Based on the special advantages of Internet technology, e-commerce played an obvious role in the September1/KLOC-0 incident, the US-Iraq war and the SARS epidemic this year, which made China's economy and the world economy develop steadily. However, the traditional trading model often shows a fragile side in the face of the huge impact brought by unexpected events. Therefore, it is a very feasible response to vigorously develop China's network business and reduce the huge impact of similar incidents on the service industry and the market.

Building a unified e-commerce integrated service platform is the key to the development of e-commerce industrialization in China. The convening of the seminar "E-commerce in the era of globalization" provides a good opportunity for global e-commerce experts to study a series of issues such as the application mechanism, business model, infrastructure and technical standards of e-commerce in China. We should vigorously promote and apply good technologies and products.

[Notes]

1.GATS is the general agreement on trade in services. 1April 1994 15, members formally signed the General Agreement on Trade in Services in Marrakesh, and it came into effect with the World Trade Organization in June 1995.

2. The Classification of International Trade in Services is provided by the Bureau of Statistics and Information Systems (SISD) of WTO and approved by the WTO Council for Trade in Services. According to the classification of service departments in GNS (General National Standard), the classification table divides the service departments in the world into 1 1 and 142 service items.

From 3 1998 to 2002, the total service trade was $53.045 billion, $55.069 billion, $ 66.4.61billion, $726.0 1 billion and $86.273 billion respectively.

4.B to B refers to business-to-business; B to C means business to customer.

5.ISP is the abbreviation of Internet Service Provider, which means "Internet Service Provider". The service here mainly refers to Internet access service, that is, connecting your computer or other terminal equipment to the Internet through telephone lines.

6. Differentiated service: refers to providing different and differentiated services to customers who bring economic benefits to enterprises.

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