Further Opening up of the Service Sector and Global Bay Areas Service Industry Cooperation Roundtable Held in Guangzhou

"Open Guangzhou, Shared Opportunities" Further Opening up of the Service Sector and Global Bay Areas Service Industry Cooperation Roundtable was held in Guangzhou on May 25th. The event attracted representatives of leading enterprises and organizations from the world's four major bay areas to discuss opportunities for cooperation in the service sector.

At the event, "Open Guangzhou, Shared Opportunities" the promotional film for Guangzhou, the Comprehensive Pilot Site for Opening up in Service Industry, and Guangzhou's ten enterprise pilot cases of deepening innovation and development of trade in services were officially released.

On December 20, 2022, Guangzhou was approved to carry out a national comprehensive pilot project to further open up the service sector. Guangzhou grasps the major opportunity of unfolding the comprehensive pilot project and brings its capabilities to full play in high-quality development and construction of a new development pattern.

Chen Yanchuan, Deputy Director-General of the Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau, introduced Guangzhou's comprehensive pilot policy of further opening up the service sector. He mentioned that Guangzhou prioritizes the manufacturing industry and fully promotes the integrated development of the advanced manufacturing industry and modern service industry. Six advanced manufacturing clusters with an output value of over 100 billion yuan, such as intelligent connected and new energy vehicles, high-end equipment manufacturing, modern urban consumer industry, etc., have formed in Guangzhou.

At the roundtable, guests from the world's four major bay areas had discussions around topics such as "opportunities for cooperation and development in the global service sector", "opportunities for opening up and cooperation in the service sector in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area", and "practical exploration of in-depth integration of the modern service industry and advanced manufacturing industry".

Harley Seyedin, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, believed that the comprehensive pilot project of further opening up the service sector shows China's determination to pursue high-quality development and openness, and it also demonstrates Guangzhou's solid industrial foundation and its ability to combine its resources and industrial advantages with the service sector.

FUJINO ATSUYA, vice President of Hitachi Elevator (China) Co., Ltd., said that the integration of the advanced manufacturing industry and modern service industry is not only an important way to keep up with the new round of technological revolution and to achieve high-quality development but also an accelerator to promote the transformation and upgrading of enterprises.

Pascal Lamy, former Director-General of WTO, said in his video that trade in services is the most dynamic component of global trade. One of the factors is the ongoing trend to more market opening as shown by the OECD services trade restriction index which measures the degree or also to the recent WTO agreement on domestic services regulation. Both tell us that China recorded a very significant improvement as a result of market opening or regulation governing foreign direct investment.

The global business community has paid attention to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Guangzhou, the city of openness, has a closer connection with the world.

Tan Ping, Vice Mayor of Guangzhou, said in her speech that Guangzhou will seize the opportunities, bring its advantages to full play, and set a good example on the new journey, so as to relieve the difficulties of development, converge the forces of cooperation, gather the momentum of innovation, and seek shared achievements by opening up. Guangzhou will continue to play the role of a leader in terms of high-quality development.

Source: Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau