China's service trade ranks among the top in the world
With the popularity of Chinese cuisine overseas, the entry of trendy toys into the world market, and the debut of international brands, "China Service" has rapidly developed. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, by 2025, the total import and export volume of China's service trade will exceed 8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, ranking among the top in the world.
As an important component of international trade and an important area of international economic and trade cooperation, service trade plays a crucial role in building a new development pattern. Since the beginning of this year, the visa free policy has continued to be relaxed and optimized, and institutional dividends such as tariff reduction and facilitation of customs clearance have been continuously released, promoting the stable and optimal development of China's service trade.
The latest data shows that in the first two months of 2026, China's total import and export volume of service trade was 114 trillion yuan, of which exports were 442.49 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%; The proportion of knowledge intensive service imports and exports to the total service imports and exports was 42.5%, an increase of 0.3 percentage points from the same period last year; The visa free transit policy has driven the continuous growth of inbound tourism, with an import and export of travel services worth 362.59 billion yuan, making it the largest sector of service trade in China.
Currently, the global economic landscape is undergoing profound adjustments, the global trading system is accelerating its restructuring, and service trade has become a high ground for countries to compete. The outline of China's 15th Five Year Plan proposes to vigorously develop service trade and encourage service exports. The 2026 government work report includes "improving national standards for the service industry and cultivating the 'China Service' brand" as the specific content of expanding and improving the service industry.
During the 15th Five Year Plan period, the scale of China's service industry is expected to exceed 100 trillion yuan. Facing the vast market space, accelerating the opening up of the service industry to the outside world has become an important lever for shaping the international competitiveness and new cooperation advantages of "Chinese services" under the new situation.
We will continue to reduce restrictions on foreign investment access, and promote the orderly expansion of opening up in telecommunications, the Internet, education, culture, medical care and other fields; Holding major exhibitions such as the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) and the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) year after year to promote innovative development of service trade; The comprehensive pilot program for expanding the opening up of the service industry has been expanded to 20, covering the eastern, central, western, and northeastern regions
China is expanding high-level opening-up with a focus on the service industry, attracting high-quality services to deeply cultivate in China, helping "Chinese services" set sail and share development opportunities in the service industry with countries around the world.
Service trade is an important engine for the future development of foreign trade. Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao stated that he will coordinate production services and daily life services, and vigorously develop service trade. Make good use of policies such as visa free access, expand the export of travel services, tap into the export potential of cultural, traditional Chinese medicine, catering and other services, promote the import of high-quality lifestyle services such as medical and health care, and cultivate more new growth points for foreign trade.