By He Yin, People’s Daily

A national conference on the service sector has recently been held in Beijing. 

Against the backdrop of slowing global economic growth and profound shifts in global trade patterns, China is working to open new prospects for the high-quality development of its service sector.

This strategic push not only underpins China’s own pursuit of high-quality economic growth but also presents substantial new opportunities for global cooperation within the service sector.

A series of high-level policy initiatives have been launched rapidly since the beginning of this year. 

Notably, this year’s Government Work Report proposed to “enhance the capacity and quality of the service sector” and “cultivate the ‘China Services’ brand.” An executive meeting of the State Council called for expanding market access and the scope of opening up with a focus on the service sector. Most recently, the national service sector conference laid out systematic arrangements to upgrade the capacity and quality of the service sector. 

These measures reflect both China’s strategic alignment with fundamental economic development principles and its practical response to structural economic weaknesses. They will inject new vitality into China’s drive to build a modern industrial system and promote high-quality growth.

As a vital component of the national economy, the development level of the service sector serves as a key indicator of a country’s overall economic strength. 

Impressive statistics illustrate China’s steady service industry expansion. In 2025, the value added of China’s service sector exceeded 80 trillion yuan ($11.71 trillion) for the first time, accounting for 57.7 percent of the country’s GDP. The sector contributed 61.4 percent of economic growth and has remained the largest source of employment for more than a decade. 

From thriving winter tourism and immersive travel experiences to grassroots sports events such as “village super leagues” and “city super league” football tournaments, the service sector continues to create new scenarios and stimulate fresh demand. Deeply integrated into daily life, it plays a critical role in industrial upgrading, meeting public needs, and expanding employment. 

Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), China’s service sector is expected to surpass 100 trillion yuan in value, indicating substantial potential for further growth.

On a wider scale, the positive spillover effects of China’s service sector expansion and upgrade  are becoming increasingly prominent, strengthening the link between domestic and international circulations.

Two concrete examples highlight this trend.

First, in 2025, China received 35.17 million inbound foreign visitors. The rising popularity of “China Travel” and “Shopping in China” has driven travel services to become the largest segment of China’s service trade, accounting for more than a quarter of the total service trade volume.

Second, China’s total service trade exceeded 8 trillion yuan in 2025. The service sector has become the main channel for absorbing foreign investment, accounting for over 70 percent of the country’s total utilized foreign investment for several consecutive years.

Behind this transformation, from “selling products” to “delivering services,” and from “expanding scale” to “improving quality,” lies the rising level of China’s opening up in the service sector.

In recent years, China has rolled out a series of initiatives to widen service sector access. 

It has fully implemented a negative list for cross-border trade in services, accelerated comprehensive pilot programs for expanding opening up in the service sector, and further expanded pilot openings in fields such as value-added telecommunications, biotechnology, and wholly foreign-owned hospitals.

As a result, the breadth and depth of opening up in China’s service sector have continued to expand. These efforts not only provide the world with a larger-scale service consumption market and attract high-quality foreign services to continuously deepen their roots in China, but also offer more diverse and competitive service supplies to share development opportunities and create growth space with other countries.

With services as a bridge and opening up as a bond, China’s service sector is poised to become more open, innovative, and dynamic. It will continue to forge new frontiers of win-win cooperation with the world and write a new chapter of shared development.

By Liu Shaohua, People’s Daily

China’s rapidly growing e-sports industry is transforming entertainment consumption but also creating diverse range of new jobs. As the sector continues to expand, it is emerging as a key driver of the digital economy and opening up diverse career paths for young people.

A prominent example is Xu Bicheng, known globally by his screen name “Yinuo,” who won an e-sports gold medal at the Arena of Valor Asian Games Version. He first realized his exceptional gaming talent while still in school. In 2019, his club was acquired by a professional gaming club, marking his entry into the fast-evolving world of competitive gaming.

Today, China’s e-sports industry has grown into a vast ecosystem. According to a 2025 report on China’s e-sports industry released by the China Audio-video and Digital Publishing Association, the sector has become a major engine driving digital culture and new forms of consumption. In 2025, China remained the world’s largest e-sports market, with total industry revenue reaching 29.33 billion yuan ($4.3 billion) and a user base of 495 million.

At the heart of this ecosystem are professional players and streamers. In 2019, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security officially recognized e-sports players and event managers as new professions.

Unlike casual gaming, professional e-sports is highly structured and competitive. Teams operate with dedicated staff, including head coaches, coaches, and managers. Similar to professional football leagues, the King Pro League (KPL) features only 18 franchised teams, making opportunities for professional players extremely limited.

Yinuo exemplifies this new wave of digital athletes, commanding a massive following among youth. On Chinese short video platform Douyin, he has over 8.4 million followers and 280 million likes, while his Weibo microblog attracts more than 5.3 million followers. His livestreamed matches routinely attract hundreds of thousands of viewers.

The growing influence of e-sports is increasingly recognized by academics. Huang Xinyuan, a professor at the School of Animation and Digital Arts, Communication University of China, noted that e-sports has become integral to young people’s lifestyles. In 2017, the university became the first in China to launch an undergraduate program in e-sports. 

“E-sports is no longer just entertainment. It represents a way of life,” Huang said, recalling the electrifying atmosphere at live competitions.

The industry’s reach continues to expand both online and offline. In 2023, e-sports debuted as an official medal event at the Asian Games. In 2025, the KPL Grand Finals drew over 62,000 in-person attendees, setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest live audience ever at an single e-sports event.

Looking ahead, e-sports will play an even bigger role. The upcoming 2026 Asian Games will feature 11 e-sports events, an increase from seven at the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou in 2023.

Behind the scenes, a growing workforce supports live streaming and event broadcasting. Statistics show that live streaming is the primary revenue source for the industry, generating over 23.7 billion yuan in 2025, accounting for 80.81 percent of total revenue.

At the same time, the integration of e-sports with sectors such as culture, tourism, and technology is creating hybrid jobs. Opportunities now span event operations, content creation, data analysis, commentary and hosting, venue management, and merchandise development, forming a employment ecosystem worth tens of billions of yuan across the value chain.

From full-time employment to flexible gig work, e-sports-related careers have become a major option for younger generations. 

A 2024 report on the development of e-sports-related jobs showed that the industry had more than 650,000 full-time positions in 2024, with about 80 percent located in first-tier and emerging first-tier cities. Meanwhile, flexible roles such as “e-sports instructors” are expanding rapidly, providing new digital employment opportunities for young people.

Education is evolving to meet industry demand. In 2017, “electronic competitive sports and management” was listed as new major for vocational schools. Eight years later, China introduced “game art design” as a new undergraduate major. So far, 139 universities across the country offer e-sports-related programs, training more than 40,000 students annually and building a steady pipeline of talent.

Enterprises are also actively involved. According to a representative from the e-sports division of Chinese tech giant Tencent, which also runs many online games in China, initiatives such as talent reserve programs and joint training schemes with universities aim to align education with industry needs. “We hope to transform the popularity of e-sports events into a sustained talent dividend through a mature ecosystem,” the representative noted.

Local governments are also stepping up support. Guangzhou in east China’s Guangdong province aims to become one of the world’s most influential e-sports cities by 2030. Shanghai plans to build globally recognized branded tournaments and attract top international events. Xiamen in Fujian province has introduced policy measures to promote high-quality development of the gaming industry.

Both on and off the screen, China’s e-sports industry is thriving — fueling innovation, creating jobs, and shaping a new generation of digital careers.

By Luo Shanshan, People’s Daily

Nestled along China’s northern border, Inner Mongolia autonomous region boasts a unique geographical advantage: it spans northeast, north and northwest China, connects eight provincial-level regions within the country, and serves as a vital gateway linking China to Europe and Asia.

Recently, China’s State Council issued an overall plan for China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ), bringing the total number of China’s pilot FTZs to 23 and further improving the overall layout of its FTZ network.

Yuan Xiaoming, assistant minister of commerce, stated that the overall plan supports the Inner Mongolia FTZ in leveraging its geographical advantages to fully utilize both domestic and international markets and resources. It prioritizes seven key areas, including developing major trade hubs, enhancing bilateral investment quality, deepening domestic and international connectivity, and facilitating the cross-border flow of production factors.

The blueprint outlines 19 reform measures, such as upgrading goods trade structures and strengthening international logistics services. Its vision is to build the FTZ into an information exchange hub, a transportation and logistics center, a platform for factor and resource allocation, a hub for scientific and technological innovation, and an industrial cooperation center in key fields, thereby linking domestic and international markets while driving regional growth.

Efforts will focus on developing northern international transport corridors to expand global connectivity. In 2025, cargo throughput at Inner Mongolia’s land ports reached 132 million tons, up 8.3 percent year on year and exceeding 100 million tons for three consecutive years.

The overall plan proposes upgrading port infrastructure, strengthening international logistics services such as aviation, postal delivery, and China-Europe freight trains, and exploring smart new cross-border transport corridors, including those featuring autonomous driving.

The FTZ is expected to enhance the development of an open economy and help strengthen China’s domestic economic cycle. In 2025, Inner Mongolia handled 9,557 China-Europe freight train trips, a year-on-year increase of 16.9 percent, accounting for nearly half of the national total. There remains significant room to improve its role in serving the domestic economy and upgrading from a “corridor economy” to a “hub economy” and an “industrial economy.” 

The overall plan calls for deeper reforms to integrate domestic and foreign trade, promoting development in border areas, and improving the well-being of people in border and ethnic regions.

It will also promote coordinated regional development and mutually reinforcing  domestic-international connectivity.

The FTZ will accelerate implementation of the land-sea intermodal “express rail clearance” model, facilitating resource sharing between Inner Mongolia’s Manzhouli Port and coastal ports including Dalian Port and Qinhuangdao Port, so as to optimize logistics networks.

Cross-border cooperation with neighboring countries will expand in agriculture, energy, and ecological governance to build transnational industrial chains. Tailored institutional innovations will strengthen Belt and Road cooperation in infrastructure connectivity, standards alignment, and cultural exchanges, better positioning itself as China’s bridgehead for northern opening up.

“In 2025, Inner Mongolia’s total foreign trade grew 6.4 percent, and notably, border residents’ mutual trade surged by 65.4 percent year on year. These figures demonstrate a solid foundation for developing Inner Mongolia into a highland of opening up along the border,” said Luo Qing, director general of the Department of Commerce of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. 

The plan includes high-value institutional reforms to upgrade goods trade, revitalize services trade, and foster innovative development of border residents’ trade.

Inner Mongolia is rich in natural resources. How can these advantages be transformed into dividends for modern industrial development?

As a national leader in agriculture, with grain output exceeding 40 billion kilograms for two consecutive years and ranking first nationwide in beef, mutton, and milk production, Inner Mongolia is solidly positioned as a “granary,” “meat base,” and “dairy hub.” It aims to build a major national base for agricultural and livestock products. The overall plan outlines measures to develop eco-friendly agriculture and animal husbandry, promote green food certification, and introduce high-quality breeds and resources.

In the energy and minerals sector, Inner Mongolia leads the country in installed capacity for new energy, coal production capacity, total power generation capacity, electricity transmitted to other regions, and reserves of 20 key minerals. Its technically exploitable wind energy resources account for about 57 percent of the national total, while solar resources make up about 21 percent.

The overall plan proposes improving policies for the consumption and utilization of green electricity, promoting trading of green electricity certificates, and refining standards for equipment recycling to upgrade the energy sector.

At the same time, Inner Mongolia is actively fostering future-oriented industries. As a national hub in China’s integrated computing power network, the region led the country in both total computing power and intelligent computing capacity in 2025. 

The overall plan outlines pilot initiatives including building edge computing centers, conducting AI large model training and applications, and expanding green computing scenarios. These will enable the FTZ to deliver fast, efficient computing services to a wider market.

Furthermore, Inner Mongolia is exploring new growth areas such as biomanufacturing and developing new quality productive forces tailored to local conditions, turning its geographic strengths into opening up advantages and policy benefits into real economic momentum.