On the present situation of China's service trade and some countermeasures to develop it! Thank you very much. . Extremely urgent!

The trend of international service trade in the era of knowledge economy and China's countermeasures

With the progress of science and technology, the adjustment and upgrading of industrial structure, the frequent international cultural exchanges and the development of international investment, international service trade has gradually emerged and developed, and has now become a new field of trade competition among countries and a new growth point of the world economy. 2 1 century is recognized as the century of knowledge economy. As an important part of the world economy, international service trade will undoubtedly undergo unprecedented profound changes under the development and role of knowledge economy. It is an important task for us to correctly judge and grasp the development trend of international service trade under the influence of knowledge economy, and make active policy adjustment in combination with the present situation of China's service trade and the requirements of joining WTO. This paper tries to make a superficial discussion on this issue.

The development trend of international service trade in the era of knowledge economy

With the rise and development of knowledge economy, service industry and international service trade will present the following five development trends:

1, service economization of industrial structure Compared with industrial economy, knowledge economy will undergo fundamental changes in industrial content. The industrial pillar in the era of industrial economy is the secondary industry, that is, manufacturing. In the era of knowledge economy, providing knowledge and information services will become the mainstream of society, and the service industry will penetrate into every corner of our lives at an alarming rate, showing extremely rich and diverse forms. From the industrial revolution of the last century to the sixties and seventies of this century, the richest enterprises that expanded everywhere were always industrial enterprises. Today, at the dawn of knowledge economy, more and more banks, comprehensive trading companies, land, sea and air transportation companies, telephone and telegraph companies and software development companies have entered the ranks of the world's top 500. At present, services in developed countries have accounted for more than 60% of gross domestic product (GDP) and employment. Especially in the United States, the service industry accounts for more than 75% of GDP and provides 80% of jobs. The present situation of service industry in developed countries indicates the historical direction of the evolution of world economic structure and industrial structure in the era of knowledge economy. Moreover, with the further development of economic globalization, the manufacturing industry has also begun to show the trend of "commercial service".

Service industry has become the leading industry in the era of knowledge economy. First, the development of science and technology has greatly promoted the specialization and refinement of division of labor, triggered the differentiation of economic organization forms, and thus increased the demand for services. All kinds of non-core business originally undertaken by enterprises are generally outsourced to professional and efficient service providers. Moreover, with the further development of global economic integration, the competition among enterprises will increasingly focus on mastering new knowledge, new information and new skills. Whoever is stingy to buy all kinds of professional service products may fall behind in the new round of competition. The role of these factors has greatly increased the social demand for productive services; Second, scientific and technological progress leads to an increase in supply, an increase in labor productivity, and an increase in people's spare time and disposable wealth, which greatly expands the new field of life service consumption; Third, the modern labor tools used in the manufacturing and circulation process in the era of knowledge economy require the service industry to provide higher quality service products, which in turn promotes the development and growth of the service industry and strengthens its influence and control over the whole economic process; Fourth, the extensive use of knowledge and information makes the service industry become the main body of product value-added, and wealth is increasingly concentrated in the service industry; Fifth, the structural characteristics of service economy itself meet the requirements of the era of knowledge economy. For example, the information industry, including information products and information services, is bound to be in a central position in the era of knowledge economy, and the education industry is bound to become the leading industry in the knowledge economy.

2. Technology-knowledge-intensive service trade structure.

In the era of knowledge economy, the internal structure of international service trade has changed, and knowledge-based service trade will dominate. The so-called knowledge-based service industry refers to those "high value-added" service industries that use highly skilled talents, knowledge and technology to play a major role and have an important impact on the trend and trajectory of social and economic growth. Referring to the "Reference List of Service Departments" listed in the original General Agreement on Tariffs, such services generally include: legal services, management services, engineering design services and computer-related services in professional services; Information and data services; Financial services (including bank deposit services, financial market management related services, financial loans, other loan businesses and bond market related services); Freight insurance, non-freight insurance, reinsurance and ancillary services in insurance business. Although the above-mentioned various service industries are different in different fields, they have a common feature, that is, the products they provide are all based on knowledge, and the core of the transaction is the knowledge contained in various services. In recent years, the rapid development of service trade is mainly based on the rapid growth of knowledge-based service industry with high technology as the carrier. The opening of knowledge service industry is listed as one of the two main topics in the Millennium Round of WTO negotiations, which shows that all countries, especially developed countries, have realized and grasped this trend.

Knowledge-based service products can become the main trade target because the "time-space compression effect" brought by information technology to international trade greatly enhances the liquidity of knowledge-based service products, making it easier to store, price and trade in different places. In the era of knowledge economy, the digitalization and coding of knowledge existence forms and the computerization and networking of knowledge activities have refreshed the relationship between knowledge, industry and economy. Nowadays, low-cost, high-bandwidth communication equipment, digital networks and advanced integrated software systems are making services that are difficult or impossible to achieve become exchangeable objects. For example, in the United States, which is at the forefront of knowledge economy, there are more and more so-called "the sun never sets" software companies. They move their main entities to countries that have no business relations with them and recruit employees on the spot, while their decision makers, senior managers and senior technical developers conduct software development through the network for 24 hours in the United States, and then send their software products directly to another country through electronic means; Second, the increasing remuneration of knowledge-based service industry has enhanced the investment and competition of various countries in this field. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, an internationally renowned consulting firm, by the beginning of the 20th century, more than 80% of jobs in the United States will be jobs served by knowledge. The development and expansion of knowledge-based service industry inevitably requires its products to trade freely in the world and requires countries to open their markets.

In addition, the "softening" trend of the service trade structure will also be clearly reflected in the traditional service trade. For example, the catering industry is a typical labor-intensive traditional service industry. In the era of knowledge economy, catering enterprises must develop high value-added catering products if they want to reproduce their past glory. This high added value is not only reflected in the knowledge content of catering products, but also in the additional services that customers get while enjoying catering products. Recently, Burger King, an American fast food operator, connected a branch in new york's central financial district to the Internet through a special line, providing Internet service for customers who came to eat hamburgers, and using the charm of the Internet to attract more and more customers.

3. Information comparative advantage of service trade competition.

In the knowledge economy society, knowledge, as the most important factor of production, is mainly produced and disseminated through the information industry. Information flows between countries and regions participating in international economic and trade activities through the global network, which will inevitably lead to the development trend of international trade, especially international service trade informatization. Under this trend, the content, mode and competition pattern of international service trade will inevitably undergo fundamental changes. The traditional comparative advantage of developing countries in service trade will gradually weaken, and the new comparative advantage of information will be a new force to form the division of international service trade in the era of knowledge economy and become an integral part of the international competitiveness of trading countries or enterprises. The so-called comparative advantage of information refers to the differences between countries in the ability of information production, dissemination, feedback and use, as well as the differences in the quantity, quality, timeliness and scarcity of information obtained by a country. It is precisely because the degree of development of information infrastructure and the scale ratio of information industry will greatly affect a country's competitive strength and position in international trade and even the world economy that countries have increased their investment and competition in information infrastructure construction and information service industry in order not to lag behind in the competition in the era of knowledge economy. Since 1993, US President Bill Clinton proposed to build the national information infrastructure (NII), that is, the "information superhighway", it has aroused strong repercussions all over the world. At present, Japanese, Korean, Singaporean, China and Taiwan Province provinces are all planning to implement the "information superhighway plan", and the EU is not far behind. As the founder of the idea of "information superhighway", the United States spared no effort to speed up its implementation. In order to make the best use of its own technological and economic advantages to build information infrastructure, the US government announced the implementation of the "Global Information Infrastructure" plan in 1995, calling on all countries to join this plan. At the same time, countries, especially western developed countries, have set off a fierce battle for world information service trade.

4. Further liberalization of service trade policy.

Since the 1980s, due to the rapid development, diversification and internationalization of service trade and the increasing importance of service trade to the economies of all countries in the world, the competition in the international service market has intensified. Developed countries actively advocate the liberalization of international service trade because they have obvious advantages in the overall benefit distribution of international service trade, while developing countries are cautious because they benefit relatively little. However, the formal signing of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) on April 5, 1994/KLOC-0 indicates that trade in services has been formally incorporated into the framework of the international multilateral trading system, and it has become an impossible object of service exchange in the contemporary world economic globalization. For example, in the United States, which is at the forefront of knowledge economy, there are more and more so-called "the sun never sets" software companies. They move their main entities to countries that have no business relations with them and recruit employees on the spot, while their decision makers, senior managers and senior technical developers conduct software development through the network for 24 hours in the United States, and then send their software products directly to another country through electronic means; Second, the increasing remuneration of knowledge-based service industry has enhanced the investment and competition of various countries in this field. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, an internationally renowned consulting firm, by the beginning of the 20th century, more than 80% of jobs in the United States will be jobs served by knowledge. The development and expansion of knowledge-based service industry inevitably requires its products to trade freely in the world and requires countries to open their markets. In addition, the "softening" trend of the service trade structure will also be clearly reflected in the traditional service trade. For example, the catering industry is a typical labor-intensive traditional service industry. In the era of knowledge economy, catering enterprises must develop high value-added catering products if they want to reproduce their past glory. This high added value is not only reflected in the knowledge content of catering products, but also in the additional services that customers get while enjoying catering products. Recently, Burger King, an American fast food operator, connected a branch in new york's central financial district to the Internet through a special line, providing Internet service for customers who came to eat hamburgers, and using the charm of the Internet to attract more and more customers.

3. Information comparative advantage of service trade competition In the knowledge-based economy society, knowledge, as the most important factor of production, is mainly produced and transmitted through the information industry. Information flows between countries and regions participating in international economic and trade activities through the global network, which will inevitably lead to the development trend of international trade, especially international service trade informatization. Under this trend, the content, mode and competition pattern of international service trade will inevitably undergo fundamental changes. The traditional comparative advantage of developing countries in service trade will gradually weaken, and the new comparative advantage of information will be a new force to form the division of international service trade in the era of knowledge economy and become an integral part of the international competitiveness of trading countries or enterprises. The so-called comparative advantage of information refers to the differences between countries in the ability of information production, dissemination, feedback and use, as well as the differences in the quantity, quality, timeliness and scarcity of information obtained by a country. It is precisely because the degree of development of information infrastructure and the scale ratio of information industry will greatly affect a country's competitive strength and position in international trade and even the world economy that countries have increased their investment and competition in information infrastructure construction and information service industry in order not to lag behind in the competition in the era of knowledge economy. Since 1993, US President Bill Clinton proposed to build the national information infrastructure (NII), that is, the "information superhighway", it has aroused strong repercussions all over the world. At present, Japanese, Korean, Singaporean, China and Taiwan Province provinces are all planning to implement the "information superhighway plan", and the EU is not far behind. As the founder of the idea of "information superhighway", the United States spared no effort to speed up its implementation. In order to make the best use of its own technological and economic advantages to build information infrastructure, the US government announced the implementation of the "Global Information Infrastructure" plan in 1995, calling on all countries to join this plan. At the same time, countries, especially western developed countries, have set off a fierce battle for world information service trade.

4. Further liberalization of service trade policy Since the 1980s, due to the rapid development of service trade and the strengthening of its diversification and internationalization trend, as well as the increasing importance of service trade to the economies of all countries in the world, the competition in the international service market has intensified. Developed countries actively advocate the liberalization of international service trade because they have obvious advantages in the overall benefit distribution of international service trade, while developing countries are cautious because they benefit relatively little. However, the formal signing of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in April 1994 indicates that service trade has been formally incorporated into the framework of the international multilateral trading system and has become an important part of the contemporary world economic globalization and regional integration. Especially after1February 1997, the Basic Telecommunication Agreement, the Information Technology Agreement and the Financial Services Agreement were finally reached, which brought more than 90% of the world's telecommunications, information and financial services trade under its jurisdiction, and were considered as important landmark documents in the multilateral trading system. At present, most WTO members have made commitments to some services trade in varying degrees, and APEC also calls for trade and investment liberalization in the 2 1 century. The knowledge service industry is listed as one of the two major topics in the Millennium Round of WTO negotiations, which indicates that the opening of the service market has become the development trend of international trade in the future. It can be predicted that with the development of knowledge economy, service trade policy will re-integrate the relationship between free trade policy and protective trade policy. On the one hand, the emergence of knowledge-based economy will greatly strengthen the interconnection and interdependence of the economies of all countries in the world. No matter from any angle, as the leading industry in the era of knowledge economy, free trade policy will be the development direction of service industry. With the globalization of economy, simple self-protection and isolation are no longer allowed. Only by participating in the division of service trade with a freer trade policy can we achieve safer self-protection. On the other hand, the healthy and stable development of knowledge economy must be guaranteed by the protection of intellectual property rights. In addition, knowledge-based service trade often involves the lifeline of the national economy of the participating countries, which means that while implementing the free trade policy, it is necessary to implement certain trade protection by means of laws and policies, which is very important for developing countries.

5. The regional distribution of service trade is uneven.

Since 1990s, international trade has developed rapidly, especially international service trade. According to statistics, in 1970, the global service trade was only $7 10/000 million, accounting for 0. 1 17 of the goods export, and197 soared to1295 billion, with an average annual growth rate of/kloc. However, from the perspective of regional distribution, it shows an unbalanced trend: developed countries are in an absolute dominant position in international service trade and have a huge service trade surplus. From 65438 to 0996, the total service trade of the United States, Japanese and European countries has accounted for more than two thirds of the total global service trade, and if Chinese mainland and China are added, it will account for about 80%. Especially in the United States, the service trade surplus of 1997 reached $79.3 billion, and the export of knowledge-intensive services dominated by information technology was equivalent to 40% of the export value. However, despite the rapid development and rising status of service trade in developing countries, the main areas of service export are still shipping, tourism and labor export. With the development of knowledge economy, the trend of service economization of industrial structure, intensive technical knowledge of service trade structure, comparative advantage of competitive information and further liberalization of trade policy is increasingly obvious. The imbalance of the regional distribution structure of service trade will not be weakened, but may be further strengthened, which is a severe challenge for developing countries.

Second, China's current situation and policy options

Since the reform and opening up, China's international service trade has made great progress. The growth rate of service trade is higher than that of national economy and domestic service industry, and the field of service trade is gradually expanding. However, on the whole, China's international service trade is still in the early stage of development, and there are many problems to be solved urgently. 1) The overall development of China's service industry is backward, its comprehensive competitiveness is poor, and its service trade lacks domestic industrial pillars. At present, China's service industry accounts for only 32.5% of GDP and 25% of employment, which is not only far below the level of developed countries, but even lower than the average level of low-income countries (accounting for 38% of GDP). Moreover, China's service industry is mainly concentrated in traditional service industries, such as tourism, labor export, ocean transportation and other labor-intensive and resource-endowed sectors, while knowledge-intensive industries such as finance, insurance, consulting and telecommunications, which have the largest global service trade volume, are still in the primary development stage in China. (2) The overall level of service trade is low and the export structure is not reasonable. At present, China's service trade accounts for only 1% of the world's service trade, ranking 20th in the world. 1997, the ratio of China's service trade exports to goods trade exports was only 0. 128. Even in Shanghai with relatively developed economy and high degree of urbanization, the ratio of 1997 is only 0. 146, which is lower than the global average (0.232). At the same time, the export structure of China's service trade is also unreasonable, with freight and tourism accounting for nearly 50%, while knowledge-based service trade is weak in competitiveness and has a large trade deficit. (3) The legal system of service trade is not perfect and the management is backward. Trade in services is different from trade in goods, and most of the trade cannot be monitored by customs. Legal means must be used to restrict or encourage the movement of people and capital and the scope and scale of trade. In terms of legislation on trade in services, although quite a number of laws and regulations have been promulgated and are playing an increasingly important role, on the whole, legislation is not systematic, and many fields are still blank. Even some laws, regulations or provisions that have been promulgated are vague and abstract, even conflicting, or lack unity and transparency, or do not conform to WTO and GATS principles. At the same time, the management of service trade lags behind. For a long time, China has always put the development of productive industries and the improvement of social material living standards in the first place. The service industry lacks clear guiding ideology and development planning, has no systematic and authoritative rules and regulations for the development of the service industry, has multiple management positions, unclear departmental responsibilities, scattered industrial layout and small business scale. (4) There is a shortage of talents in service trade, especially in emerging service industries and knowledge-based service industries. (5) There is a big gap between information construction and information industry development in developed countries. There is a big gap between information technology and the world advanced level in some key areas, and the scale of information industry enterprises is generally small, lacking comprehensive and overall division of labor and cooperation arrangements.

The wave of globalization of service industry triggered by knowledge economy not only points out the direction for China's future industrial development, but also puts forward higher requirements for China's existing service industry. How to combine the development trend of international service trade with the present situation of China's service trade in the era of knowledge economy, fully tap the potential of China's service trade, and strive to cultivate new growth points of China's service trade, we must take effective countermeasures.

1. Deeply understand the urgency of developing service industry and service trade in China, and increase support for service industry. In a sense, the era of knowledge economy is the era of service economy. Vigorously developing service industry is the foundation and guarantee of service trade. In China, there is a strong traditional concept of "emphasizing agriculture and restraining business" and a discriminatory social class division of "three religions and nine streams". In addition, the concept of "worthless service" was deeply rooted in people's hearts during the planned economy period. Therefore, it is necessary to intensify propaganda, break the backward concepts that have been formed, and achieve a breakthrough in social product concepts and labor values. Make people, especially enterprises and employees in the field of service trade, realize the important role of service industry and service trade in developing national economy, improving national competitiveness and safeguarding national security in the era of knowledge economy, realize that the great development of service economy is one of the important symbols of national economic modernization, and lay an ideological foundation for the development of service industry and service trade in China. Second, we should increase investment in the service industry. State finance should pay special attention to the investment in information infrastructure. Third, we should enhance the competitiveness of domestic service enterprises. Like industry, the scale of service enterprises is an important factor to determine their competitiveness. However, the emerging service industries in China, especially knowledge-based service enterprises, are mostly small in scale. Facing the global tide of transnational mergers and acquisitions in service industry, the first thing the government should do to enhance the competitiveness of domestic enterprises is to promote the alliance of enterprises. Secondly, we can consider selecting a group of emerging service industries and knowledge-based service enterprises with potential advantages, especially export-oriented enterprises, and give targeted support. If an encouraging tax policy is adopted, these enterprises will be reduced or exempted; Incline to government procurement; Help them get more and more accurate information about international service trade.

2. Adhering to a positive, steady, coordinated and orderly policy, gradually opening up China's knowledge-based service trade and domestic service market, and accelerating the development of knowledge-based service trade are the requirements of China's transition to a knowledge-based economy. Opening to the outside world is not only the requirements of world economic integration, but also the needs of China's own economic development. At present, China's knowledge-based service industry is still a developing infant industry with weak international competitiveness. To open the domestic service market and service trade, we must respect the basic principles of GATS, adhere to the principles of national sovereignty, security and protection of infant industries, and gradually open up. (1) We will steadily open up some areas of knowledge-based service industries where competition is urgently needed. Actively guide service multinational companies to enter the field of knowledge-based services that are uncompetitive but in urgent need of development in China. On the one hand, it can introduce brand-new technology and rich management experience to promote the cultivation and development of new service varieties in China and improve the overall service level in China; On the other hand, it also helps to provide an incentive pressure to urge the domestic service industry to actively carry out technological and management innovation and narrow the gap with developed countries in this field as soon as possible; (2) For the knowledge-based service industry with certain competitiveness, we should adhere to the principle of combining moderate protection with encouraging fair competition, and make use of the role of enterprises and industries to reasonably protect the service trade market. For example, learn from Japanese experience, strengthen the integration of service sales network, and improve the difficulty of market entry. Although Japan's open protection policy is obviously reduced, it is still the easiest market to enter, and its experience lies in a perfect integrated network; Improve the competition intensity in the domestic market and increase the entry cost; Give full play to the role of industry organizations. (3) Really exchange the market for technology. We should look at the opening of knowledge-based service market from the perspective of whether it helps to improve the productivity level of China, and avoid taking the old road of "emphasizing quality" in the utilization of foreign capital in manufacturing industry. Knowledge-based service multinational companies value China's huge service market most, so there is absolutely no need to give foreign investors more preferential treatment than domestic service enterprises. (4) Opening to the outside world should focus on departments and regions. In the opening-up of knowledge-based services, the focus of departments should be tilted according to the importance, relevance and strategic differences of specific services, rather than adopting a fixed regional gradient opening model. (5) Actively participate in multilateral negotiations on service trade, and take the initiative in formulating the opening rules of knowledge-based service market in the new millennium round.

3. Correctly handle the relationship between traditional comparative advantage and information comparative advantage, and strive to cultivate information comparative advantage. Due to the intensification of information internationalization, the importance of traditional comparative advantage in international service trade is gradually decreasing, and developed countries are consciously and purposefully uniting to try to control and monopolize the world information resources in order to dominate the mainstream of international service trade in 2 1 century. In this situation, if China only determines its international service trade structure based on traditional comparative advantages, it can gain certain trade benefits, but it is easy to fall into the "comparative advantage trap" and cannot gain competitive advantage in international service trade. Therefore, it is necessary to speed up the construction of national information infrastructure, support the informatization development of local industries and regions, and gradually increase the proportion of this aspect over time, so as to form the future information competitive advantage through the dynamic development of local information comparative advantages. At present, traditional comparative advantages and information comparative advantages can be combined to make overall plans and promote each other. On the one hand, the information comparative advantage is used to drive the traditional comparative advantage, guide the traditional service industry to develop in the direction of high added value and high information content, and enhance or maintain the traditional competitive advantage; On the other hand, traditional comparative advantage is used to support information comparative advantage and promote the formation of information competitive advantage.

4. Strengthen the construction of laws and regulations on service trade, and establish and improve the service trade management system. When legislating service trade, we should follow the following principles: 1) The principle of gradual progress. Due to the complexity of service trade coordination, it is impossible to legislate in one step, and we must proceed from reality, such as the transition from interim measures and management regulations to formal laws. Simple law or practice can't solve the problem first. (2) Supporting principle. When formulating local laws and regulations, we should consider the connection with national laws, and make it clear in legislation what local laws and regulations govern and what national laws govern. (3) System principle. There should be general laws and regulations for various departments, such as regulating service trade statistics, service trade practitioners' qualifications, foreign immigrants, anti-unfair competition in service trade, service trade enterprise organizations, etc., as well as legislation for specific industries, which is particularly important for industries that have been opened and promised to be opened in China. (4) the principle of integration. WTO and GATS have established a global legal framework for service trade. We should strengthen the research on the relevant provisions and principles of WTO and GATS, establish laws and regulations that conform to our economic development goals and do not violate the norms of international law as soon as possible, and stipulate the principles of service market access, taxation, investment and preferential conditions in the form of law in order to increase the transparency of service trade. In addition, we should pay special attention to adding special provisions against foreign countries setting up discriminatory treatment and unfair trade barriers to China's service trade, so as to make it have the effect of integrating with international law.

The key to solve the main problems existing in China's current international service trade management and implement effective macro-management of China's international service trade is to quickly establish a coordinated management mechanism of service trade organizations in the whole society. It is suggested to set up a coordination group or committee for international trade in services in China to be responsible for the development planning, business statistics, legislation, foreign negotiations and policy coordination of China's trade in services.

5. Accelerate the training of service trade talents. Enterprises in different industries have different key production factors. For service trade enterprises, talent is the key element. The gap between China and developed countries in service trade is, in the final analysis, the gap in the quantity and quality of talents. To solve the talent problem, we should start from many aspects. One is multi-channel and multi-level training. It is suggested that qualified universities and scientific research institutes should actively set up international service trade majors, train compound talents who are familiar with international service trade, and strengthen short-term training for existing personnel. The second is to carry out the "overseas talent introduction" project and actively introduce talents. The third is to prevent brain drain. With the entry of a large number of foreign service enterprises after China's entry into WTO, it is obviously urgent to prevent the brain drain of high-level talents in service trade. Otherwise, at the same time of training, it is difficult to solve the problem of their own talents.