Photo taken on Sept. 5, 2022 shows the Shougang Park during the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, capital of China. The 2022 CIFTIS closed on Monday.(Photo: Xinhua)

China, the US, the EU and other 52 participants have completed the domestic approval procedure of the Joint Statement Initiative on Services Domestic Regulation (SDR) under the framework of the WTO, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Sunday.

The economies will jointly launch the procedures for the entry into force of the negotiation outcome at the WTO on Tuesday, the MOFCOM revealed. Experts said the move will help promote further liberalization and facilitation of global trade in services, and help boost the growth of the high-potential services trade sector of China.

The joint statement initiative was reached in December 2021, when 67 WTO members announced the successful conclusion of negotiations on services domestic regulation “aimed at increasing transparency, predictability and efficiency of authorization procedures for service providers hoping to do business in foreign markets,” according to the WTO.

The SDR will help save about $150 billion a year in costs for global companies participating in international trade in services, especially benefiting micro-sized, small and medium-sized enterprises in the financial, commercial, communications and transport services sectors, the Xinhua News Agency reported after the conclusion of the joint statement initiative in December 2021, citing a MOFCOM official.

The services trade of the 67 WTO members accounts for more than 90 percent of the world’s total, and global trade in services has grown faster on average than trade in goods over the past decade, the official said.

According to WTO estimates, the share of services in international trade will rise from 22 percent to more than 33 percent in 2040.

China has become the second-largest market for global trade in services, and the SDR will facilitate Chinese companies to set up commercial entities overseas and provide cross-border services. It will also help reduce the cost for Chinese companies entering the international market and provide regulatory guarantees for the high-quality development of China’s services trade, experts said.

“China has been a powerhouse of trade in goods, and it has the potential to be a powerhouse of trade in services,” Bai Ming, deputy director of the international market research institute at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Sunday.

There are promising prospects for the country’s services trade sector, such as digital economy-related industries, according to Bai.

The nation has stepped up efforts to promote the development of the services trade sector. Despite multiple challenges, China held the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services, the largest comprehensive exhibition in global services trade, in September, attracting 507 Fortune Global companies and industry leaders.

In 2021, China’s foreign trade in services totaled 5.3 trillion yuan ($760 billion), up 16.1 percent year-on-year, according to MOFCOM data.

Global Times