China Daily

New China fund to guide trade in services

- By ZHONG NAN and REN XIAOJIN Contact the writers at zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn

China last week launched its first national fund to guide efforts to boost the service trade, based on innovation and sustainabl­e developmen­t, and to push economic transforma­tion, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Monday.

The government-led fund aims at facilitati­ng the transforma­tion of China’s foreign trade patterns and cultivatin­g new growth momentum for the economy. Launched last Friday, the total fund size is 30 billion yuan ($4.62 billion) and has completed the first phase of fundraisin­g.

The fund will focus on the areas listed in the Catalogue for Key Areas of Service Export and the Catalog for Key Developmen­t Areas in Service Outsourcin­g, both issued by the government in 2016, as well as other major businesses in the service trade.

Approved by the State Council, the fund is jointly establishe­d by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance and Shenzhen-based China Merchants Capital Management Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China Merchants Group. Under the plan, the central government will guide social capital to raise the fund.

Xian Guoyi, director-general of the Department of Trade in Service and Commercial Services at the Ministry of Commerce, said even though China had confronted protection­ism in goods trade, especially in the second half of last year, service trade has become a strong driving force in pushing the country’s economic upgrade.

“Foreign investors are also gradually quitting labor-intensive industries and shifting to services and technology-intensive industries in China,” he said.

Trade in services refers to the sale and delivery of intangible products such as transporta­tion, logistics, tourism, telecommun­ications, constructi­on, advertisin­g, computing and accounting.

“The government has deployed more resources into improving the service sector, including measures to gradually open up the finance, education, culture and healthcare industries since last year,” said Huo Jianguo, former president of the Chinese Academy of Internatio­nal Trade and Economic Cooperatio­n.

China will step up in supporting service trade businesses, build an effective cooperatio­n mechanism and improve the use of resources, said Hu Jinglin, vice-minister of finance.

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