Businesses support establishment of a special zone for the service trade

The service trade has become an important driving force of globalization. Digital technologies have dramatically increased the tradability of services, unleashing huge development potential in the service sector.

China’s service sector has shown strong resilience. In 2022, imports and exports in the sector grew 12.9 percent yearly to reach a record high of nearly 6 trillion yuan (US$835.8 billion), ranking second globally for the ninth consecutive year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Statistics also show the service sector is upgrading to a more sophisticated knowledge-based model. During the first nine months of this year, knowledge-intensive service trade hit 2.03 trillion yuan, with its share accounting for 42 percent of the nation’s total service trade.

Since August 2020, China has started a pilot program to promote innovative development of trade in services in 28 pilot areas, and the country is accelerating the design of a construction plan for National Demonstration Zones for Innovative Development of Trade in Services.

Shanghai is “the main force” in driving the development of trade in services. Shanghai’s total service trade amounted to 2.5 trillion yuan last year, and the city will transform into a National Demonstration Zone for the Innovative Development of Trade in Services.

Experts expect the demonstration zone to facilitate trade, investment, cross-border flow of capital, employment, transportation, and the safe and orderly flow of data.

Enterprises in the service sector are expressing confidence in Shanghai’s business environment and growth opportunities in service trade as a range of policies foster innovation in services.

Dun & Bradstreet

A leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) has benefited from Shanghai’s open business environment and strategic location since it opened its office in the city in 1994.

“Shanghai is a node of domestic and international economic cycles that connect many production capacities across the country. In this process, trade in services plays an important role,” said Andrew Wu, general manager of D&B China.

Wu considers it a timely strategy for Shanghai to develop a National Demonstration Zone for the Innovative Development of Trade in Services.

“We face many challenges considering the international environment, in terms of supply chain stability, how to accelerate foreign trade, and the interplay between domestic and international economic flows. Therefore, the city putting forward the development strategy will gather the power of enterprises and better guide us to follow and serve the national development,” Wu said.

D&B has helped clients and partners grow and thrive through the power of data, analytics, and data-driven solutions. “With the deepening of China’s digital transformation and its high-level opening-up, our clients have higher expectations and increased demands for our services,” Wu said.

At the sixth CIIE, D&B showcased a series of innovative solutions designed to empower Chinese enterprises in building a sustainable and resilient supply chain.

“Through participating in CIIE for four years in a row, we keenly feel China’s firm determination to advance high-level openness,” Wu noted. “While leveraging our strength, we will continue to integrate global wisdom with local innovation to provide deeper business insights for Chinese enterprises.”

LucaNet

In the field of financial data management, LucaNet stands above the rest. LucaNet China has provided many listed companies and large-to-medium-sized state-owned enterprises with their user-friendly software for financial performance management and professional consulting since 2010.

“As a service provider in the knowledge-intensive industry, we have witnessed the entire market becoming more rational, standardized, and professional,” said Chris Zhang, managing director of LucaNet Finance Consulting (Shanghai) Co Ltd.

“China sets out goals to speed up the integration of the digital and the real economy. China’s National Data Bureau promotes the value of data elements as a new driving force for economic development. As a supplier in the field of data solutions, we believe that, from a policy perspective, this is a significant advantage.”

The Chinese securities regulator has also strengthened supervision of listed companies and imposed greater requirements on the quality, timeliness, and accuracy of data to mitigate financial risks. “As we mainly serve listed companies, we will benefit greatly from the national regulations,” Zhang said.

Zhang finds it encouraging that the city has implemented strategic initiatives to further upgrade trade in services.

“China’s commitment to deepening reforms and maintaining openness provides foreign companies like us with more confidence to further develop in this market. We expect to see the city continue to benchmark against the world’s top standards and maintain a pioneering role,” Zhang said.

KPMG

Tracy Yang, vice chairwoman and senior partner of Eastern and Western Region, KPMG China, firmly believes Shanghai remains a hotbed for global investors, and the company will continue its investment in and serve Shanghai, taking concrete actions to support the city’s high-quality development.

Since setting up its first representative office in Shanghai in 1986, KPMG has now established six entities in the city, covering a wide range of services including audit, tax, consulting, asset evaluation, digital technology, and more.

“In recent years, Shanghai has attracted many leading enterprises specializing in service trade, providing vast room for future development,” Yang said. “As a professional service organization, KPMG will leverage the experiences accumulated over the years in areas such as audit, taxation, and consulting to contribute our know-how to the creation of the National Demonstration Zone for the Innovative Development of Trade in Services.”

By benchmarking global high standards, KPMG aims to provide government agencies and businesses with efficient professional services to support the sustainable growth of the service trade. Besides, with the acceleration of the digital transformation of service trade, the company will further increase its investment in technological innovation, explore new models and new formats, continually enhance its core competitiveness, and help drive Shanghai’s service trade innovation and development to new heights, according to Yang.