Service sector opening-up to benefit firms

China's renewed push to broaden high-standard opening-up in the service sector will create more opportunities for multinational companies during the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, as policymakers signaled further reforms to improve the business environment and advance the country's economic transformation.

Market watchers and corporate executives said these efforts point to greater market access and a more predictable regulatory framework, allowing global businesses to deepen their presence.

China's value-added services output went up 5.4 percent year-on-year to 80.89 trillion yuan ($11.78 trillion) in 2025, with the sector contributing 61.4 percent to the country's overall economic growth, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

According to the Government Work Report submitted last week to the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress, China's top legislature, the nation will expand market access and open up more areas, particularly in the service sector.

Zhu Jiandi, a deputy to the 14th NPC and managing partner of international accounting firm BDO in China, said that making expansion of service sector opening-up a development priority in the 15th Five-Year Plan period has multiple implications.

"When manufacturing approaches saturation, advanced economies display a shift toward services," said Zhu, adding that shifting from selling goods to selling services can boost GDP and upgrade manufacturing through producer services, such as finance and innovation.

As digital technologies accelerate industrial upgrade and integrate deeply with advanced manufacturing in China, these moves will further attract foreign technology service providers and encourage broader participation in the country's "Invest in China" initiative, said Wei Xiang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.

China's service sector attracted 64.04 billion yuan in foreign direct investment in January, with foreign investment in research and development and design services soaring 175.1 percent year-on-year, statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed.

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, while speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the fourth session of the 14th NPC on Friday, said that China will promote imports of high-quality consumer services, including medical and healthcare services, as the country moves to vigorously develop trade in services.

Amid these policy efforts, Sherri He, China unit managing director of Kearney, a United States-based management consulting firm, said that professional services can play a key role in this transition.

Global consulting firms are helping companies combine international brand assets with local consumer insights, enabling them to better understand the evolving "language of emotional value" among Chinese consumers and build stronger connections with the market, she noted.

Wu Dongming, CEO for China at DHL Express, the German logistics service provider, said that more consumers in China's lower-tier cities are gaining access to international goods and services comparable in quality to those in top-tier cities.

"At the same time, manufacturers in these small cities and counties are increasingly gaining the capability to participate directly in global trade," Wu said.

Roberta Lipson, director of the US-China Business Council and founder of United Family Healthcare, said she believes that China's economic potential lies in leveraging innovation in the new economy to drive services and industrial development.