International service companies eye new opportunities in China’s service sector

More international service companies have shown strong interest in pursuing new opportunities in the Chinese market, as China continues to open the service sectors.

This was learned from executives who attended the 7th Qingdao Multinationals Summit.

The summit, which just wrapped up in east China's Shandong Province, saw increased participation from multinational corporations in the modern service sector, reaching 20 percent, a record high.

Last year, nine cities were included in China's new batch of comprehensive pilot programs for expanding the opening-up of the service industry, with Qingdao among them.

Running from Monday to Wednesday, the summit attracted a record 357 multinational corporations from 44 countries and regions on its opening day, including 105 Fortune Global 500 companies and 252 industry leaders.

Themed "Multinationals and China: Advancing with the 15th Five-Year Plan for Innovation and Future", the summit serves as a platform for dialogue, investment, and cooperation, offering participants insights into China's economic direction.

Weta Workshop, a New Zealand-based integrated visual effects studio, participated in the production of iconic films such as The Lord of the Rings and the Avatar series. This year, the workshop attended Qingdao Multinationals Summit for the first time, where it announced new cooperation projects with Chinese companies.

"We are working with an incredible company (on a project) called New ZGold, (with) the Zhaojin Group and between New Zealand BIG, Weta Workshop and this wonderful team (are working together). We are developing an IP to hopefully reach an international market for them," said Richard Taylor, co-founder and CEO of Weta Workshop.

China is expanding market access with a focus on the service sector, and is systematically opening up sectors such as telecommunications, the internet, education, culture, and healthcare. The 20 comprehensive pilot programs to expand service-sector opening nationwide provide more options for foreign investment in the service industry.

"We believe that as China continues to expand its high-level opening up to the world, exciting opportunities are emerging across culture, tourism, creative industries and digital technologies. A greater openness will strengthen our cultural experiences and allow us to create a greater level of Chinese story that goes out to the world," Taylor said.

International service companies eye new opportunities in China’s service sector

Tokyo stocks ended mixed Monday, as the broader market was lifted by gains on Wall Street late last week, along with impact from the possible measures taken by the Bank of Japan.

The benchmark Nikkei stock index, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average, ended down 488.27 points, or 0.74 percent, from Friday at 65,528.09.

The broader Topix index, meanwhile, finished 6.00 points, or 0.15 percent, higher at 4,073.29.

The Topix index was supported by gains on Wall Street late last week following a stronger-than-expected S and P Global Purchasing Managers' Index for August, which eased concerns over an economic slowdown.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Nikkei index mostly traded in negative territory, as investors locked in gains on some technology shares, said analysts.

Timothy Pope, a market analyst for the China Global Television Network (CGTN), recapped the day.

"In Tokyo today the Nikkei 225 was down a little bit less than 0.7 percent lower. Its AI heavyweights were slipping again in the leadup to Nvidia earnings we are going to see later in the week. Quite a few of the big names on the Nikkei are exposed to Nvidia. Advantest being one of them, (was) down 3.9 percent today, and tech investor SoftBank as another, down 5.3 percent," Pope said.

"But aside from the AI results, this week is increasingly a will-they-won't-they story about the Bank of Japan and interest rates. The market consensus seems to be swinging more towards expecting another rate hike in September. The BOJ's inflation reading will come out on Tuesday, that's for underline inflation, just before the market closes. There is also going to be a speech from the BOJ Deputy Governor Ryozo Himino on Thursday that I think the market will be watching pretty closely," he said.

Tokyo stocks end mixed on Wall Street gains, tech losses