Beijing to further open its service sector

Beijing will further open its service industry to the world, Vice Mayor Yin Yong said at the State Council's press release on Wednesday. The city received the State Council's approval of a plan for new comprehensive pilot programs.

According to the plan, nine pilot projects have been elaborated upon, including positioning Beijing as a political, cultural, international exchange and RD center, advancing Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integrated growth and the sub-center of Beijing serving as a pilot zone of the comprehensive pilot program of further opening-up of the service sector.

The plan came up with 14 specific measures to open wider in six industries including business service, telecommunications and culture.

In May 2015, the State Council approved the pilot programs. In the past three years, more than 220 pilot tasks and 21 opening up measures were implemented with measurable outcomes.

Since the pilot, there have been 640,000 new service enterprises in Beijing, and a number of new models and new formats have landed in Beijing.

Beijing utilized foreign capital worth 23.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, ranking first in the country for the first time. The added value of the services industry made up 81 percent of the city's GDP in 2018, and the import and export volume of service exceeded one trillion yuan.

(CGTN)