Opening-up continues apace

SHI YU/CHINA DAILY Opening-up is China's basic national policy and a distinctive feature of Chinese-style modernization. From 2018 to 2023, China's service trade restrictiveness index for 18 sectors, including courier and financial services, has dropped, thanks to reduced foreign investment access restrictions and other discriminatory barriers, as well as increased regulatory transparency. FTZs will fully align with international high-standard trade rules, with harmonized rules in opening-up the service sector, facilitating the flow of commodities, labor protection, government procurement, e-commerce, industrial subsidies, environmental standards, intellectual property protection and post-border management. In December 2023, the State Council issued the overall plan for comprehensively connecting with international high-standard economic and trade rules and promoting the high-level institutional opening-up of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone, which set out 80 measures across seven areas, including expanding opening in the service trade. The latest edition of China's negative list for foreign investment access includes 31 items and is expected to be further shortened, with all restrictions on the manufacturing sector removed.