On the morning of September 3rd, the Service Sector Expansion Promotion Conference under the "Invest in China Year", a sub-theme of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), kicked off, providing a comprehensive overview of the achievements of China's pilot program for expanding the service industry.

Since being selected as a pilot city in December of last year, Guangzhou has witnessed a wave of groundbreaking, international, and high-quality reform initiatives. In the first six months of this year alone, Guangzhou's service industry added value reached 1.03 trillion yuan, marking a year-on-year growth of 5.8%, and accounting for 73% of the city's GDP.

During the promotion conference, Guangzhou showcased three iconic projects that have been implemented: the Technical Center and Electronics Factory of ZF in Guangzhou, the Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange Guangzhou (Huangpu) Education Innovation Zone, and the "Yue Xin Tong" Cross-Border Data Service.

The Technical Center of ZF in Guangzhou is its first research and development center in South China, while the Electronics Factory is ZF's second automotive electronics factory in China. The Sino-Foreign Cultural Exchange Guangzhou (Huangpu) Education Innovation Zone stands as the country's first zone dedicated to cultural and educational exchanges between Chinese and foreign entities. Meanwhile, the "Yue Xin Tong" Cross-Border Data Service will provide efficient, secure, and legally compliant access to Singapore's network for enterprises based in the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City.

These three landmark projects are just a glimpse of Guangzhou's successful pilot initiatives. Throughout this year, Guangzhou has actively attracted global high-end service industry enterprises and resources.

The Guangzhou Futures Exchange's lithium carbonate futures were listed, with a first-day trading volume reaching 14.4 billion yuan. As of August 2023, the Guangzhou Carbon Emission Trading Center has achieved significant milestones in the carbon emissions market. It has witnessed the trade of over 200 million tons in carbon emission quotas, with a total transaction value exceeding 6.1 billion yuan. Remarkably, the annual trading volume of carbon emission quotas in the spot market has consistently held the top position among similar pilot programs nationwide for the past ten consecutive years. Guangzhou Port witnessed the anchoring of the "Offshore Oil 301," the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport refueling vessel manufactured by China and the world's largest of its kind, providing tax-free LNG transport refueling services for the world's largest dual-fuel oil tanker. This milestone marked China's international leadership in the LNG transport refueling industry for ships.

Guangzhou has also nurtured nine national-level, 71 provincial-level, and 135 municipal-level industrial design centers. Embracing large-scale customization as a hallmark of Guangzhou's service-oriented manufacturing, companies like OPPEIN,　Sogal, and Shangpin Home Collection are among the top five global custom home furnishing enterprises, with the industry of Guangzhou exceeding a trillion yuan in value. Guangzhou led the nation by incorporating the "average distance between disengagements in autonomous driving" as a benchmark to measure the technological development of autonomous driving companies, encouraging them to accelerate their technological iterations.

Since the implementation of the comprehensive pilot program for expanding the service sector, Guangzhou has systematically implemented two batches of 72 items on the list of matters related to the integration of rules with Hong Kong and Macao. This has led to smoother flows of people, goods, capital, and information among the three cities.

The increasingly open market environment continues to attract the attention of global investors, making Guangzhou a favored destination for foreign enterprises. Data shows that in the first half of this year, Guangzhou's service sector attracted actual foreign investment of 23.168 billion yuan, accounting for 89.9% of the city's total, with 2,699 newly established foreign-invested enterprises, marking an 83.1% growth.

服务业扩大开放试点成效显著，上半年广州服务业增长破万亿元

9月3日上午，2023年服贸会“投资中国年”服务业扩大开放推介大会启幕，大会全面盘点了我国服务业扩大开放综合试点示范成效。

自去年12月入选试点城市以来，一大批首创性、国际化、高质量的改革举措在广州应运而生。今年1—6月，广州全市服务业增加值10314.95亿元，同比增长5.8%，占GDP比重73%。

在推介大会上，广州亮出已落地的采埃孚广州技术中心和电子工厂项目、中外人文交流广州（黄埔）教育创新区和“粤新通”跨境数据专线三大标志性项目。

其中，采埃孚广州技术中心是采埃孚在华南地区的首个研发中心，采埃孚广州电子工厂是采埃孚在中国的第二家汽车电子工厂；中外人文交流广州（黄埔）教育创新区是全国首个中外人文交流教育创新区；“粤新通”跨境数据专线将为入驻中新广州知识城的企业访问新加坡网络提供高效、安全、合法合规的渠道。

三大标志性项目的落地，只是广州试点成效的一隅。今年以来，广州大力吸引全球高端服务业企业和要素汇聚。

广州期货交易所碳酸锂期货成功挂牌交易，首日成交额达144亿元；截至2023年8月，广州碳排放权交易中心累计成交配额超2亿吨，总成交金额超61亿元，碳配额现货年交易量连续十年位居全国同类试点首位；我国首艘、全球最大液化天然气运输加注船“海洋石油301”在广州港锚地，成功为全球最大吨级双燃料超大型油轮提供保税液化天然气加注服务，标志着我国国际船舶液化天然气加注产业步入世界前列。

广州累计培育9家国家级、71家省级、135家市级工业设计中心；把规模化定制作为广州服务型制造的发展特色，欧派、索菲亚、尚品宅配3家企业位列全球定制家居前五强，定制家居产业规模超千亿元。广州率先全国将“自动驾驶平均脱离间隔里程”这一衡量自动驾驶企业技术发展水平的指标纳入分类、分级测试条件，鼓励企业加快技术迭代。

服务业扩大开放综合试点实施以来，广州有序落实两批72项与港澳规则衔接事项清单，人流、物流、资金流、信息流更加顺畅。

越来越开放的市场环境，让广州始终吸引着全球投资者的目光，为外资企业所青睐。数据显示，今年上半年广州服务业实际使用外资231.68亿元，规模占全市的89.9%，新设外商投资企业2699家，增长83.1%。

文、图 | 羊城晚报全媒体记者 孙绮曼
通讯员 穗商务宣
翻译 | 刘佳慧