China unveils work plan, task list to accelerate opening-up of service industry

China's Ministry of Commerce issued a work plan and a task list on Friday to further leverage the role of pilot cities in accelerating the opening-up of the service industry.

According to the work plan, tasks of the comprehensive pilot programs will be promoted in qualified pilot regions in an integrated way to improve efficiency.

Moreover, nine additional cities, including Dalian, Ningbo, Xiamen, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Hefei, Fuzhou, Xi'an, and Suzhou, will be able to carry out comprehensive pilot programs, said the work plan.

The plan added that innovative measures for opening-up the service industry, proposed by various departments, will be implemented first in these pilot regions. Pressure testing will be carried out. Based on the risk level of each pilot task, the measures will be promoted within corresponding regions in a timely manner.

The task list of comprehensive pilot programs issued by the ministry outlines 155 pilot tasks in 14 areas, including supporting opening-up and development of the telecommunications services and related digital industries, further opening up and improving service in health care and elderly care industries, strengthening international finance cooperation, enhancing innovation in trade, tourism, and cultural sectors and boosting the integrated development of advanced manufacturing and modernized services to improve the industries' international competitiveness.

The ministry said it will organize monitoring and evaluation to ensure the implementation of the tasks in pilot regions.

A rare sight of a wolf pack traversing a mountain valley together was recorded after snowfall in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, signaling ecological recovery.

Two striking black wolves, a seldom-seen color variation, stand out distinctly in the pack at the Tomur Peak National Nature Reserve in the Tianshan Mountains.

Conservationists said that the stable presence of a wolf pack is no coincidence. In recent years, the reserve has strengthened ecological protection, improving habitats and allowing wildlife populations to recover. As apex predators, wolves return only when prey species and the broader ecosystem are thriving -- clear evidence that Tomur's conservation efforts are paying off.