China keeps expanding global cooperation on service trade: MOC

ECNS) -- China has been expanding global cooperation on service trade, and established service trade relationships with more than 200 countries and regions in the world, said an official of the Department of Service Trade, Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

China’s total export of services exceeded $800 billion in 2021 for the first time, a record high, with a year-on-year increase of 21.4 percent, data shows.

The service trade amount with countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative", BRICS members, and ASEAN countries have increased by 33 percent, 52 percent, and 27 percent respectively.

China has been enlarging cooperation institutions in service trade, with bilateral service trade cooperation agreements with 15 countries including Brazil, Japan, and Portugal signed so far, said the department.

Meanwhile, the country keeps improving its regulatory ability. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has come into force boosted by China, and the Reference Paper on Services Domestic Regulation among 56 WTO members has been signed.

Currently, China's total service trade has ranked second in the world for eight consecutive years, and its import volume, second in the world for nine consecutive years, said Wang Dongtang, a senior official with the MOC. 

In the past 10 years, China's service trade has accumulated more than $4 trillion in imports, Wang added.