Dahe Finance Cube:

The service industry is a major focus of this year's work. The national conference on the service sector was held, and the State Council issued a guideline on expanding capacity and upgrading quality of the sector. Based on the data from April, what are the highlights in the service sector? Thank you.

Fu Linghui:

Thank you for your question. I will take this one. In recent years, China's service industry has steadily expanded in scale and continuously improved in quality and efficiency, playing an important role in supporting industrial development, meeting people's needs, and driving employment expansion. Since the beginning of this year, driven by various capacity-expanding and quality-upgrading measures in the service sector, China's service industry has maintained steady growth. The industrial structure has been optimized and upgraded, and new growth drivers have expanded steadily, showing a development trend of both quantitative and qualitative growth. In April, the service sector production index increased by 4.3% year on year. The main characteristics are as follows.

First, the modern service industry has shown a robust growth trend. With the accelerating pace of digitalization and informatization, the rapid AI development has driven the growth in demand for computing power and promoted the development of the information service industry. In April, the production index of the information transmission, software, and information technology services industry rose 11.7% year on year, significantly faster than the overall growth rate of the service industry. To enhance product value, businesses have strengthened brand planning and promotion, driving the expansion of demand for the service industry. In April, business service activities were relatively active, with the production index for leasing and business service industry increasing by 10.7% year on year, 0.6 percentage point faster than the previous month.

Second, the high-tech service industry has developed well. As the leading role of technological innovation has been reinforced, the service industry is increasingly trending toward high-end development, as embodied in the high-tech service sector. From January to March, the operating revenue of enterprises above the designated size in sci-tech services and R&D and design services each grew 9% year on year, significantly outpacing the overall growth rate of service enterprises above the designated size. The expansion of demand in the high-tech service market has also driven the growth of related investments. From January to April, investment in the high-tech service industry increased by 10.5% year on year, with investment in information services and inspection and testing services increasing by 18.1% and 13.7%, respectively.

Third, the service industry supporting residents' daily lives maintained steady growth. Residents' consumption of services maintained steady growth, and the number of tourists continued to increase during the Qingming Festival holiday. The service industry has also maintained steady growth. In the first four months, the retail sales of services grew by 5.6% year-on-year. Increased travel and leisure activities by residents boosted the growth of industries such as transportation. In April, the production index for transportation, warehousing and postal services increased by 4.3% year-on-year, 0.3 percentage points faster than the previous month. The expansion of visa-free entry significantly boosted inbound tourism, bringing new opportunities for the development of service industries such as tourism, accommodation, catering, and transportation.

Fourth, the driving force of emerging service industries has been strengthened. With the innovation and continued refinement of service scenarios and models, the driving effect on the development of the service industry has increased daily. Digital consumption developed rapidly, and new businesses form, such as the online services showing good growth. In the first four months, the retail sales of online services grew by 8.3% year-on-year. The platform economy continued to develop, and internet service transactions were relatively active. Data from a platform economy survey shows that from January to April, the transaction volume of tourism services increased by 15% year-on-year, the transaction volume of cultural and sports services increased by 10.4%, the application scenarios of new-generation digital technologies expanded rapidly, and the use of cloud services grew rapidly. From January to April, the transaction volume of software information service platforms increased by 7% year-on-year. Against the backdrop of green and low-carbon energy transformation, the construction and application of charging facilities accelerated, and related services achieved rapid growth. From January to April, the transaction volume of key charging platforms increased by more than 30%, which was clearly related to the use of new energy vehicles and the driving force of related infrastructure in China.

Overall, the service sector saw steady growth in April, with structural improvement and upgrading, new growth drivers continuing to expand, and potential for development continuing to be unlocked. Looking at the long term, China's service industry has ample space and enormous potential for development. In the next stage, we must implement the spirit of the national conference on the service sector. This means conforming to the trend of industrial upgrading and development, meeting the needs of residents for a high-quality life, further implement capacity-expanding and quality-upgrading initiatives in the service sector, and improve its overall performance and development. This in turn promotes high-quality economic development. Thank you.