Service trade has become a vital engine driving the transformation and upgrading of the global economy, as the global trade landscape shifts into a new phase where goods and service trade advance in tandem.

The development of service trade is closely linked to the maturity of the institutional environment. Institutional opening-up—by optimizing domestic rules, regulations, management, and standards—breaks down hidden barriers, reduces transaction costs, and promotes the expansion and structural upgrading of service trade, creating a virtuous cycle.

Shanghai has made significant progress in its service trade institutional framework, yet bottlenecks remain, such as insufficient depth in market openness, a regulatory system awaiting optimization, and the need for stronger intellectual property protection.

Greater efforts are required to advance institutional innovation and policy design. Key measures include establishing high-level coordination mechanisms, exploring local legislative trials, promoting the Negative List + Pre-establishment National Treatment model, deepening Streamlining Administration and Delegating Power (Fang-Guan-Fu) reforms, setting up digital trade demonstration zones, and refining the intellectual property protection system to drive the high-quality development of service trade.

Translated by Yongjia LIN

Full text in Chinese available at:

https://fddi.fudan.edu.cn/d5/82/c18965a775554/page.htm