China starts pilot program for service trade

China will further open up its services sector by expanding a pilot program for innovative development of trade in services, according to the Official Reply of the State Council on Approving the Deepening of the Pilot Program of Innovative Development of Trade in Services issued in June.

The State Council recently approved deepening the pilot program of innovative development of trade in services in 17 locations, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hainan, Shenzhen, Harbin, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Suzhou, Weihai, Xiong'an New Area of Hebei, Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing, Gui'an New Area of Guizhou, and Xixian New Area of Shaanxi, from this July to June 30, 2020.

The pilot program aims to improve management mechanisms, to enlarge opening-up, to foster market participants, to innovate development models, to facilitate trade, to improve policy systems, to complete statistical systems, and to develop innovative regulations.

Focusing on further expansion of opening-up, the pilot program puts forward six measures, one of which is that wholly foreign-owned banks, Sino-foreign joint venture banks and branches of foreign banks will be allowed to apply to conduct RMB transactions when submitting their applications for opening businesses.

In addition to finance, China will pilot a series of opening-up measures covering telecommunications, engineering consulting, and legal services and tourism.

As for tourism, China will explore setting up a visa for seeking medical services in China, promote the 144-hour visa-free entry policy throughout Guangdong province,  improve supervision of cross-border self-driving tours, allow overseas travel agencies to cooperate with domestic enterprises, develop self-driving tour products, and improve the entry and exit procedures of private yachts, vehicles and other means of transport, including the guarantee system, while reducing the cost of inbound tours.

Chinese source: http://www.gov.cn/