Service outsourcing helps cultivate new forms and models of trade

In recent years, the rapid development of service outsourcing in China is an important engine to promote the transformation and upgrading of China's foreign trade. According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, in the first half of 2022, the contract value of service outsourcing undertaken by Chinese enterprises was 987.5 billion yuan (the same currency below), and the executed value was 645.4 billion yuan, an increase of 12.3% and 14.3% respectively year-on-year. Among them, the contract value of undertaking offshore service outsourcing was 547.3 billion yuan, and the executed value was 360.7 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 10.7% and 10.0% respectively.
LAN Qingxin, Professor of the National Institute of opening up and vice president of the school of international economics and trade at the University of international business and economics, said that service outsourcing is an important manifestation of the competitiveness of the service industry. Undertaking offshore service outsourcing is an important indicator of China's export of service trade. The development of the service outsourcing industry will not only promote the development of China's service industry and narrow the service trade deficit, but also promote the upgrading of the trade structure, Promote the coordinated development of trade in goods and trade in services. In addition, in the process of undertaking information technology outsourcing (ITO), business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO), Chinese enterprises will make full use of digital technology, which will also drive the digital and intelligent transformation of China's service trade and realize upgrading in technology and knowledge intensive service trade.
From the perspective of business structure, in the first half of the year, the implementation amount of offshore information technology outsourcing (ITO), business process outsourcing (BPO) and knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) undertaken by Chinese enterprises was 155.3 billion yuan, 64.2 billion yuan and 141.3 billion yuan respectively, with year-on-year growth of 2.9%, 17.8% and 15.2% respectively. In terms of regional layout, in the first half of the year, 37 service outsourcing demonstration cities nationwide undertook a total of 491.1 billion yuan of offshore service outsourcing contracts and 329.5 billion yuan of implementation, an increase of 10.5% and 10.6% respectively year-on-year, accounting for 89.4% and 90.9% of the national total respectively.
"Under the current complex international and domestic economic situation, the service outsourcing industry is conducive to cultivating new forms and new models of trade. China is building a new development pattern of double circulation, and service outsourcing is conducive to closer cooperation between China and the global value chain, and constantly rising to the high end of the value chain." Zhang Jianping, director of the regional economic cooperation research center of the Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said that the growth momentum of China's service outsourcing industry was relatively good in the first half of the year, which made new contributions to the country's stable growth, stable employment and opening to the outside world. The highlights of industrial development were: the growth rate was high. Under the current slowdown of the global economy and Global trade, the amount of service outsourcing contracts undertaken by enterprises and the amount of offshore service outsourcing contracts increased by more than double digits year-on-year; The structure has been continuously optimized, and offshore service outsourcing businesses such as information technology solution services, Internet marketing and promotion services, and financial back office services have increased rapidly; The industrial concentration is relatively high, and the total amount of offshore service outsourcing undertaken by 37 service outsourcing demonstration cities in China accounts for 90%.
From the perspective of international market, in the first half of the year, China undertook 87.7 billion yuan of offshore service outsourcing implementation from RCEP member countries, with a year-on-year increase of 8.9%, accounting for 24.3% of China's offshore service outsourcing implementation.
LAN Qingxin believes that undertaking the growth of offshore service outsourcing in RCEP countries fully illustrates the important role of RCEP's entry into force in promoting the economic cooperation of Member States, and also reflects the content of RCEP's relevant agreements on trade in services, which will effectively drive the development of trade in services and the deepening of cooperation in the service industry among Member States, and also shows the effect of regional economic integration on promoting the development of globalization, deepening cooperation among countries, and mutual benefit and win-win results. In the future, with the full implementation and promotion of RCEP agreement, relevant countries will bring more new growth points on the basis of comprehensive cooperation.
The steady development of service outsourcing in China benefits from multiple factors. In Zhang Jianping's view, the continuous improvement of the quality of human resources in China, the development of China's economy in the direction of service, the improvement of the development level and the expansion of the scale of the service industry have led to the continuous improvement of the ability and level of enterprises to complete service outsourcing; In recent years, through the pilot free trade zone and the free trade agreement, China's service trade has been opening up to the outside world, which has created a good market space for the growth of service outsourcing.
LAN Qingxin said that China's economy has gradually entered the era of service economy, the development level and potential of the service industry are rising, and the service outsourcing enterprises are growing, forming the driving force of service outsourcing; China has implemented high-level opening-up, and the business environment for the development of service outsourcing industry has been continuously improved; With the issuance of the guiding opinions on accelerating the transformation and upgrading of service outsourcing, the number of service outsourcing demonstration cities has been expanded to 37, the pilot of innovative development of service trade and the comprehensive pilot of expanding the opening up of service industry have been launched and deepened, the first negative list of cross-border service trade has been formulated, the cooperation platform of service trade fair has been created, and the establishment of supporting policy system has been paid attention to.
Zhang Jianping believes that the future development opportunities and challenges of China's service outsourcing coexist. Under the background of China's development towards service-oriented and high-tech, and the increasing ability to participate in international division of labor, China's service outsourcing has huge development space. How to actively connect with international advanced standards and how to cultivate all kinds of professional talents are issues that need to be considered in the transformation and upgrading of China's service outsourcing to high-tech and high added value.
Talking about how to continuously improve the international influence of the "Chinese service" brand, LAN Qingxin believes that efforts need to be made from the following four aspects: first, we should pay attention to expanding the scale of service outsourcing enterprises, building service outsourcing industry clusters, and realizing economies of scale. Second, we should pay attention to promoting the innovation of service outsourcing enterprises, especially strengthening the innovation in technology research and development and business processes, improving the rapid response ability of enterprises to the international market and improving the high-end service level. Third, we should increase policy support, accelerate the implementation of existing policies, and give strong support to service outsourcing enterprises in financing, talent, information, international cooperation and other aspects. Fourth, we should strengthen the development of international markets, encourage service outsourcing enterprises to carry out international service qualification certification and participate in the formulation of international standards, increase the international promotion and dissemination of the "Chinese service" brand, and form the international recognition and influence of the "Chinese brand".
Zhang Jianping said that brand cultivation is a systematic project, which requires enterprises to adhere to for a long time, complete their own service tasks with quality and quantity, and provide high-quality service products. In this process, enterprises need to constantly improve the technical content and level, and adhere to honest management.