BEIJING -- The just-concluded national conference on the service sector in Beijing has sent a clear signal that China will promote a high-quality service sector driven by demand, reform, technology and global cooperation, to meet its own development goals and foster inclusive growth.

Amid sluggish global recovery and growing unilateralism and protectionism, the conference from Tuesday to Wednesday highlighted the importance of developing modern services, promoting its digital and intelligent transformation, strengthening producer and consumer services, and cultivating more "China Services" brands, while also promoting broader opening up of the service industry.

As an economy advances, a modern and specialized service industry becomes a key indicator of its competitiveness, stability and sustainability. The national conference has outlined clear directions, priorities and practical pathways for the development of the service sector.

The conference once again indicates that China's economy is entering a new phase of high-quality development, which values quality over speed, knowledge and innovation over imitation, and win-win cooperation over beggar-thy-neighbor approaches by certain Western powers.

China's robust service sector development has captured global attention. As foreign media have noted, China, once a major merchandise exporter, is now rapidly moving up the global ranks as a leading exporter of knowledge-intensive services. Furthermore, a global organization observed that reallocating resources to services has helped boost China's productivity over the past two decades, and it can continue doing so in the years ahead if supportive reforms are implemented.

The optimism is backed by solid data. In 2025, China's service sector surpassed 80 trillion yuan ($11.65 trillion) in added value, making up 57.7 percent of GDP and contributing 61.4 percent to its economic growth. It also provided around half of the country's total employment.

China's expansion of its service sector does not come at the expense of other countries but instead offers tremendous shared opportunities and benefits for the world at large.

No one can afford to overlook China's distinctive strengths, including its super-large market supported by 1.4 billion people and a growing middle-income group. In 2025, service consumption accounted for 46.1 percent of per capita spending by urban and rural residents, making it a key engine for expanding domestic demand.

This fertile ground has spurred demand for high-quality imported services such as tourism, transportation, intellectual property royalties and financial services, creating stable and vast market opportunities for other countries. Also, China's deficit in its service trade will bring more cooperation opportunities.

Developing the service sector is no longer a matter of whether to do it, but how to make it faster, stronger and more inclusive. As China continues to open up its service sector, it will provide stronger momentum for global economic recovery and create greater shared prosperity.