A round of new policies for service trade is expected to go into effect this year. Preferential policies for service trade will include policies that support service trade enterprises seeking financing through public listing on the stock market, special funds to promote service trade development, and preferential tax policies for service export enterprises that are qualified to replace business taxes with value-added taxes.

Service outsourcing will be one of the major beneficiaries of the preferential policies, according to an industrial insider. In order to develop service outsourcing enterprises with international brands, the government will encourage such enterprises to vary financing channels by issuing debt financing vehicles and list on secondary boards. In addition, the government will lead social capital to invest in service outsourcing or newly-emerging international service outsourcing fields.

China’s service outsourcing industry boomed in 2013.

Statistics from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed a total of 143,856 service outsourcing contracts were signed in the first 11 months of 2013, worth a total of $83.16 billion, an increase of 60.6 percent year-on-year. Among that, the contracted amount of China’s international service outsourcing was $53.41 billion, an increase of 47.8 percent.

According to targets set by the Ministry of Commerce, the enforcement amount of China’s undertaking of offshore international service outsourcing will keep growing by 40 percent per year. This figure is expected to hit $85 billion by 2015, which will account for 28 percent of the total service export volume.

The ministry’s target on service outsourcing also included its expectation for large-sized comprehensive service suppliers and listed international outsourcing enterprises.

In addition, a list of major service export sectors will be created by the ministry, according to Gao Hucheng, minister of the Ministry of Commerce. He explained that the list aims to promote service exports in major sectors. Based on the steady development of such traditional service exports as transportation and tourism, the list will accelerate emerging services, such as security, telecommunications and design, and work to promote some special services like culture, art and traditional Chinese medicine.

The Ministry of Commerce will further optimize financial taxation policies to support service trade development.