State Council Issues Guidelines to Expand and Upgrade Service Sector, Targets Breakthrough of 100 Trillion Yuan by 2030

On April 21, the State Council issued the 'Opinions on Promoting the Expansion and Enhancement of the Service Sector.' The document outlines 20 measures focusing on strengthening weak links in producer services across the entire chain and elevating the development capacity of key areas in consumer services. It sets a clear target for the total scale of the service sector to surpass 100 trillion yuan by 2030.

Post-industrial societies typically transition to a development model dominated by the service sector, which becomes the main engine of the economy. Data shows that in 2025, the added value of China's service sector exceeded 80 trillion yuan for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%, contributing 61.4% to national economic growth. In the first quarter of this year, the added value of the service sector accounted for 61.7% of GDP, contributing 63.2% to economic growth and driving GDP growth by 3.2 percentage points. Meanwhile, employment in the service sector reached 360 million people, accounting for 48.8% of the national workforce, solidifying its role as a genuine 'reservoir' and 'stabilizer' for employment. According to the 'Opinions,' by 2030, the total scale of the service sector will reach the 100 trillion yuan milestone, forming a development pattern with higher quality, better structure, superior service, and greater vitality. This will involve cultivating more 'China Service' brands and significantly enhancing the global competitiveness and influence of the service sector.

Guided by the theory of New Quality Productive Forces, the development of the service sector is exploring new pathways post-new industrialization. In terms of content, it involves the simultaneous advancement of consumer services and producer services. Strategically, it emphasizes a dual-drive approach of 'capacity expansion' and 'quality enhancement,' focusing particularly on the development of new types of consumption and modern services. This means we must develop consumer services covering areas like catering, accommodation, wholesale, and retail, while placing greater emphasis on developing producer services such as technology services, logistics services, financial services, e-commerce, and global operations. Therefore, the 'Opinions' emphasize that the key to promoting high-quality development in the service sector lies in both 'capacity expansion' and 'quality enhancement.'

'Capacity expansion' focuses on comprehensively improving the comprehensive capabilities of producer services. The 'Opinions' propose targeted measures for fields like technology services, modern logistics, software and information services, supply chain finance, energy-saving and environmental protection services, and business services. For example, it proposes vigorously developing services such as R&D design, intellectual property, and inspection, testing, and certification, to unclog the innovation chain from basic research to industrialization. Pang Chaoran, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, stated that the series of deployments in the 'Opinions' are based on the present while focusing on the long term, aiming to continuously drive the service sector to increase its total volume, optimize its quality, and strengthen its capacity.

'Quality enhancement' focuses on four directions: digitalization and intelligence, standardization, integration, and internationalization. Among these, digital and intelligent transformation is placed in a prominent position—deeply implementing the 'AI+' action, supporting the procurement of large model and intelligent agent services, strengthening R&D in sixth-generation mobile communication technology, and orderly advancing the layout of computing power and edge computing infrastructure. The integration of advanced manufacturing and modern services is also noteworthy. Through technological traction and industrial linkage, the service sector is no longer a 'passive accessory' to manufacturing but a 'qualitative transformation engine' driving Chinese manufacturing towards the medium-to-high end of the global value chain.

Reprinted: 'State Council Opinions on Promoting the Expansion and Enhancement of the Service Sector'