China speeds up rolling out cross-border trade in services negative lists

This aerial photo taken on April 4, 2023 shows the Haikou International Duty-Free Shopping Complex in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Yang Guanyu)

BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- China will accelerate the roll-out of national and pilot free trade zone (FTZ) versions of negative lists for cross-border trade in services to boost opening up, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

China released its first negative list in services trade at the Hainan Free Trade Port in July 2021, specifying that domestic and overseas service providers should enjoy equal access in sectors not on this list, said ministry spokesperson He Yadong at a press conference.

It was a key reform in the country's management of trade in services, he noted.

Regarding negative lists for foreign investment access, such lists have been reduced by more than 80 percent since 2013, when the negative list approach was first adopted in China's inaugural pilot free trade zone in Shanghai, data from the ministry showed in September.