China to accelerate opening-up of service sector

As global unilateralism and protectionism ramps up, China will accelerate the expansion of the service sector’s opening-up, the Ministry of Commerce has said.

The ministry has issued a guideline for accelerating the implementation of a comprehensive pilot program to expand the opening-up of the service sector. Previously, a pilot programme had been carried out in three batches across 11 provinces and cities around the country. The latest round will be fully launched in all 11 provinces and cities at once, the commerce ministry said.

The guideline proposes 155 pilot tasks in 14 areas, including supporting the open development of telecommunications services and related digital industries, improving the level of opening-up in the medical and healthcare sector, and promoting international cooperation in finance, cultural and tourism sectors.

In the financial sector, pilot tasks include supporting the development of international factoring services and attracting overseas insurance companies, sovereign funds, pension funds, certification and verification agencies, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds to provide financing, investment and technical services for green projects.

Other measures include supporting foreign doctors to open clinics in China and encouraging the short-term practice of overseas medical professionals and technicians. In addition, China will work to attract more overseas insurance companies, sovereign funds and pensions to provide investment, financing and technical services for green projects, and allow foreign-invested travel agencies to operate outbound tourism businesses in China.

Ling Ji, vice-minister of commerce, said the United States’ ‘reciprocal tariff’ policy has seriously impacted the international trade order and stability of global industrial and supply chains, and China has proposed measures to further strengthen its opening-up to better cope with the situation.

“China’s new measures demonstrate its unwavering determination to expand the opening-up, and its firm support for economic globalization and maintenance of the multilateral trading system,” Ling said.

He added that China’s services sector boasts vast growth potential. In the first quarter, China’s actual use of foreign investment amounted to 269.23 billion yuan ($36.94 billion), and the services sector accounted for more than 70% of the total, data from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

“The nine cities newly included in the pilot programme have a relatively high degree of opening-up in the services sector, and each city has its own unique industries. After the successful pilot, their innovative achievements are foreseen to have greater value for replication and promotion on a larger scale,” said Bai Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing.

Nearly two million private enterprises established in Q1

More than 57 million private enterprises were registered across China as at the end of March, accounting for 92.3% of all enterprises, according to data released by the State Administration for Market Regulation.

In the first quarter of 2025, 1.98 million new private enterprises were established nationwide, marking a year-on-year increase of 7.1%.

Of these, 836,000 firms – more than 40% of the total – belonged to the ‘four new economies’, which include new technologies, industries, business forms and business models.

Internet and modern IT services led this group, posting the fastest growth at 18%. As at the end of March, 22.68 million private enterprises were operating within the four new economies.

Emerging industries also saw expansion in Q1, with 94,000 new private enterprises registered in the next-gen IT industry; 46,000 in high-end equipment manufacturing; 254,000 in AI software R&D; and over 10,000 in the silver economy – those economic activities, products and services designed to meet the needs of people over 50.

During the same period, 3.95 million new individual businesses were registered nationwide, of which 263,000 were in primary industries, 193,000 in the secondary industries and 3.49 million in the tertiary industries. Individual businesses in the tertiary industries had reached 111 million by March 31, representing nearly 90% of the total.