A news conference held on July 29 in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality suggested that the region's comprehensive pilot zones for the further opening-up of the service industry will focus on seven fields – services related to technology, business, education, finance, healthcare, electricity, and telecommunications.

The State Council officially announced its approval in April this year – allowing Tianjin, Shanghai, Hainan and Chongqing to launch comprehensive pilot zones for the further opening-up of their service sectors, with Chongqing being the only one to deploy such pilot schemes in mid-western China.

Specifically, Chongqing will improve its technological services by exploring technology ownership reforms, major technological infrastructure, intellectual property right financing, and patent insurance. In the business area, the government will try to introduce more renowned foreign arbitration agencies, foreign investment credit investigation firms, and professional personnel.

Services in education will be elevated by local authorities encouraging sino-foreign cooperation in running schools, applying internationally recognized textbooks in science and engineering, and developing online curriculums.

The financial service is expected to make breakthroughs in financial monitoring mechanisms, financial markets, the establishment of foreign-invested financial institutions, green finance, and cross-border commercial medical insurance.

Equal importance is given to health care, in which the government is going to bring in more medical institutions and foreign-invested geriatric nursing homes and promote internet-based medical services and drug distribution.

In addition, the local government will incentivize private enterprises to operate power distribution businesses. In addition, Chongqing will form a website register system that is more tailored to the needs of overseas customers.

"Apart from the seven key fields, the development of Chongqing's pilot zone in the service industry will also prioritize key industrial platforms and industrial parks in order to drive high-quality development," said Zhang Zhikui, director of the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce. "The Western China (Chongqing) Science City and Liangjiang New Area will lead the opening-up process in data ownership, medicine R&D, and other crucial areas," he added.

Meanwhile, the municipality will become an inland international logistics hub by establishing a national airport-based logistics center, building platforms for global industrial material centralized procurement, and shaping a container sharing and distribution system in the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, Zhang said.

Pilot zones will mainly rely on Chongqing's central business district to discover customized financial services for scientific and technological enterprises and advance the integration of culture and tourism in a bid to make Chongqing a hub of international consumption.