China's State Council has approved an extensive plan to accelerate the opening of its service sector, expanding pilot projects to include nine new cities, a commerce official said at a regular press briefing on Monday.
Building on a decade of innovation, the plan adds cities such as Dalian, Ningbo, Shenzhen, and Suzhou, targeting key services such as telecommunications, medical services, commerce and trade, and finance, with a focus on easing foreign ownership restrictions, promoting green finance, and supporting international operations.
Since 2015, the State Council has approved the pilot program in 11 provinces and cities including Beijing.
"To accelerate the formation of more diverse institutional innovations and further improve the efficiency of the pilot projects, we have expanded the scope of the initiative across all eligible regions. The previous distinctions between regions and task batches no longer apply, and the program has been fully implemented in all the existing 11 pilot provinces and cities simultaneously," said Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative for International Trade Negotiations.
"In addition to the existing 11 pilot provinces and cities, we are also adding nine more cities to the program, which include Dalian, Ningbo, Xiamen, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Hefei, Fuzhou, Xi'an, and Suzhou. These cities will now be included in the pilot initiative as well," Ling added.
The additional nine cities selected for the pilot program were chosen for their strong service sector foundations, regional and industrial significance, and capacity for effective implementation.
The plan also outlines 155 tasks designed to open key industry sectors such as removing foreign ownership limits in telecommunications, expanding international gaming operations, and supporting foreign doctors. It also encourages international factoring, green finance, and foreign investment in travel agencies.
The plan also focuses on improving support for foreign talent, simplifying visa processes, permanent residency applications, and professional qualification recognition. It also strengthens legal protections for foreign-related arbitration, legal practices, and labor regulations.
The initiative aims to harmonize rules and standards across various sectors, including cross-border data flow, intellectual property, and environmental regulations. In parallel, it emphasizes risk prevention and coordinated supervision to ensure orderly progress in opening key industries.
China expands opening up of service sector, adding nine new pilot cities
Foreign diplomats and scholars are looking closely at this year's "two sessions", saying China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) will not only chart the nation's economic and technological priorities but also reshape global value chains.
The fourth session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the nation's top political advisory body, opened on Wednesday, followed by the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Thursday. Together known as the "two sessions," these meetings offer a comprehensive view into China's development priorities.
Global observers emphasized that the 15th Five-Year Plan, a blueprint guiding the nation's economic, social, and technological priorities over the next five years, marks a decisive shift toward high‑quality growth anchored in advanced technologies, with ripple effects across the world.
"The two sessions will discuss China's five-year plan, which is heavily oriented toward China's major technological development. I believe this is important because it represents the new blueprint for China's economy, which is now oriented toward the renowned high-quality development, and this will undoubtedly impact the entire world. I think it is worth studying. This is very important for Latin America. It will help us integrate more intelligently into global value chains and into all aspects of the major development that China is promoting in iconic industrial sectors, such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space development, where Latin America also has much to contribute beyond just commercial growth," said Gustavo Sabino Vaca Narvaja, former Argentine Ambassador to China.
"The two sessions are a major political milestone in China, and this year's gathering carries even greater significance as this year marks the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. This plan represents not only a blueprint for China, but also a guide for other countries. Instruments like the five-year plan effectively provide greater certainty and predictability for the rest of the world," said Chilean scholar of international relations Ignacio Araya Heredia.
"This is a particularly important date, especially due to the fact that the next Five-Year Plan shall be positioned and we're going to see what its main elements shall be. Serbia, which has a very high degree of steel friendship with the People's Republic of China, can expect further assistance in identifying the most prominent areas of Serbian economy and being helped by its great partner, such as it has been done in the previous period, from one part with establishing the main infrastructure projects, but also reshaping the industrial sector of Serbia, not just Serbia, but the region as a whole," said Veljko Mijuskovic, assistant professor of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Belgrade.
Beyond the policy framework, experts also pointed to China's achievements in green energy and technological innovation as models worth emulating.
Tomasz Bielinski, adjunct professor at the University of Gdansk's Faculty of Economics, said the robotics displays at the 2026 China Media Group (CMG) Spring Festival Gala reflected China's broader push in technological innovation.
"I was really impressed about the robotics. I'm very impressed with Chinese development in the technological field, we can still make great deals with Chinese businessmen and we can cooperate together to use this technology for both the good of China and the European Union. I'm aware of the innovation especially in autonomous drive on the on the Chinese side," he said.
"We hope for more of China's economic cooperation, especially in trade and also in investment. Also, and the other focus, if I talk about the focus of the development, don't forget about the green energy. We know that China is great in the electric vehicle field. So because China's electric vehicles in Indonesia nowadays, since couple of years ago, are very, very popular," said Al Busyra Basnur, president of the Indonesia-China Friendship Association.
Observers see China's new five-year plan driving high-quality development, global tech shifts
