China's Ministry of Commerce, together with other relevant departments, will support China's service exports and advance international cooperation in the service sector, said Zhang Li, assistant minister of commerce, at a policy briefing in Beijing on Tuesday.

Zhang made the remarks after the State Council released the Opinions on Expanding Capacity and Improving Quality of the Services Sector, which specifies the goals and key areas for development in the sector. The document also calls for cultivating more "China Services" brands and enhancing their global competitiveness.

On April 28, 2026, the State Council Information Office holds a policy briefing in Beijing about the Opinions on Expanding Capacity and Improving Quality of the Services Sector. [Photo by Liu Jian/China SCIO]

To improve the quality and efficiency of service exports, the Ministry of Commerce and other relevant departments will build on industrial strengths, coordinate services for both producers and consumers, and strive to foster a number of internationally competitive service export enterprises and industrial clusters, Zhang said.

Efforts will also be made to harness China's investment strengths to support the coordinated global expansion of professional services such as finance, law, and consulting.

This photo taken on Sept. 14, 2025, shows the venue for the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services at Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China. [Photo/Xinhua]

For reform and opening up in the service sector, the government departments will further improve the negative list management system for cross-border trade in services, proactively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and ease market access restrictions in the service sector in an orderly manner.

Zhang said that they will remove barriers to cross-border trade in services and facilitate the efficient and secure cross-border flow of key factors such as capital, human resources, and data that are closely related to trade in services.

In addition, the departments will promote international cooperation in the service trade. Relying on platforms facilitating bilateral and multilateral economic and trade cooperation, they will strengthen institutionalized cooperation with key partners, reach cooperation agreements with more countries, innovate on cooperation models, and further tap into the potential for collaboration.

It will also build various service trade promotion platforms to help establish international matchmaking channels and support service enterprises in participating more extensively in global competition and cooperation, Zhang said.

In 2025, China's total imports and exports of trade in services reached 8.08 trillion yuan (US$1.18 trillion), marking a year-on-year increase of 7.4%. Among this, service exports grew by 14.2% year on year, becoming a new engine driving the growth of China's foreign trade, according to Zhang.