According to the statement recently released by the Ministry of Commerce, China will advance the opening-up of its services sector in nine additional pilot cities, including Dalian, Ningbo, Xiamen, Qingdao, Shenzhen, Hefei, Fuzhou, Xi'an, and Suzhou. The pilot cities were tasked with implementing 159 pilot measures.

The pilot cities are encouraged to pursue differentiated approaches based on local conditions. For Xi'an, the assigned tasks include: 

Launch regular cultural and tourism train services between Xi'an and Almaty

Pilot railway waybill reform to recognize waybills as property rights instruments

Leverage major science and technology infrastructure and national laboratories to advance industrial development

Build Xi'an into a nationally influential center for science and technology innovation

Establish new university-industry talent-sharing models to attract and deploy high-level talent globally

Strengthen international innovation cooperation and expand multi-level science and technology exchanges

Participate in developing ports, terminals, and storage facilities along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor

The service sector is now a key driver of China's economic growth and foreign investment inflows. As a major opening-up initiative, the national pilot program to expand service industry opening started in 2015 across 11 provinces and cities, including Beijing, yielding innovative results that have been scaled nationwide.

Aligned with a "one city, one policy" approach, the pilot program is tailored to each city's geographical and industrial strengths—for instance, advancing Dalian as a Northeast Asia shipping hub, enhancing Shenzhen's free trade account functions, and facilitating biopharmaceutical R&D imports in Suzhou. This strategy fosters a multi-level, diversified open innovation ecosystem.