By Liu Tao, Research Team on “Promoting the Reform of Systems and Mechanisms of the Service Industry Through Institutional Opening-up,” Institute of Market Economy, DRC

Research Report, No.45, 2021 (Total 6110) 2021-3-11

Abstract: With a full-fledged service industry system, the United States is the world’s largest service trading country and shows strong international competitiveness in such fields as digital network and professional services. Its cutting edge can be mainly attributed to the open environment and sound institutions of the service industry, which have enabled the U.S. to play a leading role in the formulation of global service trade rules. In recent years, the U.S. has promoted the opening of the film and television and law industries by partially lifting restrictions on personnel flow and made the road freight transportation, engineering consultation and architectural design industries more open by removing barriers to free competition and improving regulatory transparency. Though its Internet service industry has become less open, its foreign investment access is still featured by high-level opening-up. In view of the U.S. experience, China needs to continuously improve the opening-up environment of its service industry, promote high-level and differentiated opening up in different sectors of the service industry, accelerate opening up through laws and regulations, adjust measures for opening up in line with demands and seek to play a leading role in the formulation of service trade rules through further and wider opening up of its market.

Keywords: service industry, the progress of opening-up, policy enlightenment, OECD service trade restrictiveness index, the United States