The State Council of the PRC has approved to carry out a pilot program to expand opening up and deepen trials for the innovative development of service trade in 28 cities and regions, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai,  Chongqing, Hainan, Dalian, Xiamen, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Shijiazhuang, Changchun, Ha’erbin, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Hefei, Jinan, Weihai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Guiyang, Kunming, Xian, Urumqi, Xiong’an New District of Hebei, Gui’an New District of Guizhou and Xixian New District of Shanxi, on 11 August 2020. The Ministry of Commerce of the PRC has released an Overall Plan for the pilot program of innovative development of service trade on 14 August accordingly.

One of the important aims of the Overall Plan is to expand the opening-up of service trade and facilitate the elimination or relaxation of restrictions on service trade. Twenty six opening-up measures have been introduced to the transportation, education, medical, finance and professional services sectors, which allow overseas service providers to enter the Chinese market through the cross-border delivery, movement of personnel and other means. The main contents are as follows:

1. Conducting open stress tests for cross-border delivery and overseas consumption. For example, allowing foreign institutions to independently run foreign-related economic and technological exhibitions, allowing foreigners to operate non-vessel common carrier service in China, enabling local firms to partner with overseas institutions to develop cross-border commercial medical insurance products and so on.
   
   
2. Exploring the relaxation of restrictive measures under the mode of movement of personnel in specific service areas, promoting mutual recognition of professional qualifications between China and other countries and supporting more overseas professionals to start businesses in China. For example, allowing qualified professionals from Hong Kong and Macao to provide engineering consulting services in Hainan, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other pilot areas, piloting mutual recognition of professional qualifications with Hong Kong and Macao, further simplifying work permit and residence permit policies to facilitate qualified foreigners to work and develop their businesses in China and so on.
   
   
3. Encouraging pilot areas to further strengthen international cooperation in service trade, in particular in areas such as education, law and finance, and build international service trade cooperation parks.

In the next step, the pilot areas will release their specific pilot programs within the framework of the Overall Plan and implement the pilot policies and measures as soon as possible. Kaizen will keep a close eye on the updates of these pilot policies and measures.

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