Ministry of Commerce: Guide local governments to use existing funding channels to support service outsourcing development

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on December 15, 6 departments including the Ministry of Commerce issued a notice to issue the “Action Plan to Promote the High-Quality Development of Service Outsourcing”. The action plan mentions increasing investment and financing support. Guide local governments to use existing funding channels to support service outsourcing development, and simplify enterprise declaration procedures while ensuring financial security. Give full play to the leveraging role of the Services Trade Innovation and Development Guidance Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Trade in Services Fund) and use market-based methods such as equity investment to drive more social capital investment in the service outsourcing sector. Equity investment funds are encouraged to support science and innovation small and medium-sized service outsourcing enterprises. Strengthen the linkage between trade in services funds and local funds, and support eligible service outsourcing enterprises in accordance with market-based principles through joint establishment of sub-funds or investment in local funds.

The original text is as follows:

Notice from 6 departments including the Ministry of Commerce on Issuing the “Action Plan to Promote the High-Quality Development of Service Outsourcing”

The Ministry of Commerce, the Central Network Information Office, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Finance, and the General Administration of Customs have jointly formulated the “Action Plan to Promote the High-Quality Development of Service Outsourcing”, seize opportunities in the digital economy, and promote service outsourcing as a new engine for innovative development of trade in services in China, a new highlight of open economic cooperation, and give full play to the important role of service outsourcing in stabilizing employment, stabilizing foreign trade, and improving the structure.

Ministry of Commerce Central Internet Information Office

Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development and Reform Commission

Ministry of Finance, General Administration of Customs

Action plan to promote high-quality development of service outsourcing

Service outsourcing is an important component of trade in services and an important way to achieve digital trade, and plays an important role in constructing a new development pattern. In order to thoroughly implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on innovating and enhancing trade in services and innovating and developing digital trade, give full play to the important role of service outsourcing in cultivating new momentum for foreign trade development and broadening employment channels, accelerate the development of new quality productivity, and promote high-quality development, this action plan was formulated.

I. General Requirements

Adhere to Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the 20th Plenary Session of the Party and the Central Economic Work Conference, completely, accurately and comprehensively implement the new development concept, adhere to reform and innovation, market leadership, government support, agglomeration and development, gradient upgrading, and cross-border integration, and promote service outsourcing, trade in services and digital trade in an integrated manner. By 2030, cultivate a number of leading service outsourcing enterprises with international competitiveness, and build a number of service outsourcing clusters with strong innovative capabilities and obvious industries. The level of development of digitalization, intelligence, greening and integration of service outsourcing will be further improved, and the number of people employed will increase significantly. Service outsourcing has become an important part of innovating and improving trade in services and innovating and developing digital trade.

II. Key tasks

(1) Implement platform carrier upgrading actions.

Support the high-quality development of model cities. Guide each service outsourcing model city (hereinafter referred to as model city) to combine major regional strategies and urban development strategies, carefully study and sort out location characteristics, resource endowments, industrial base and comparative advantages, determine the functional positioning of service outsourcing development, study and formulate development goals, refine and form key tasks, cultivate key projects, expand application scenarios, and create a good ecosystem for service outsourcing development. Support model cities in the eastern region to make full use of the advantages of gathering high-end elements of service outsourcing to create a highland for global service outsourcing development. Support model cities in the central western and northeastern regions to expand areas with advantages and characteristics of service outsourcing, actively undertake offshore and offshore outsourcing transfers, cultivate new growth points, and promote the coordinated and joint development of service outsourcing regions.

Strengthen the construction of park platforms. Support all regions to combine development plans such as urban renewal and building replacement, use resource endowments, focus on leading industries, give full play to comparative advantages, build personalized and differentiated service outsourcing parks, build digital infrastructure, allocate various high-quality elements and resources, and gradually upgrade from traditional service models to “industrial enablement+ecological service” models. Support all regions to build public service platforms for service outsourcing, strengthen data sharing among enterprises, governments and professional institutions, and promote “One Network Access”. Support professional organizations in the field of service outsourcing to enhance their international service capabilities, link international resources, and better play their role in policy research and export promotion.

(2) Implement innovation-leading actions.

Build a digital trade industry cluster. Support places in a position to do so to establish internationally recognized data security and privacy protection mechanisms, promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, and build digital trade industry clusters. Focus on optimizing the digital business environment, cultivating and expanding industrial strength, actively developing international data service business, exploring the establishment of a data service industry chain for overseas data storage, processing and trading, accelerating the development of new forms and models of digital trade, and cultivating new growth points for foreign trade.

Support business innovation related to service outsourcing. Support eligible central and western resource-based cities to develop service outsourcing services related to cloud computing, supercomputing, intelligent computing, artificial intelligence, etc., undertake domestic and foreign information technology outsourcing and digital service transfers, and explore new digital transformation paths for resource-based cities.

(3) Implement subject development actions.

Strengthen the cultivation of leading enterprises. Cultivate a group of leading service outsourcing enterprises with strong international competitiveness and small and medium-sized service outsourcing enterprises with unique competitive advantages, guide enterprises to lay out industrial ecology in emerging fields, and actively participate in global industrial division of labor cooperation. Support leading enterprises to use their advantages in terms of contract acquisition channels, brand standards, etc., to drive small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in international competition. Support IT outsourcing enterprises to further empower the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, cultivate a number of leading service outsourcing enterprises nationwide in the next three years, and support relevant policies in favor of leading enterprises. Relying on professional institutions, we will strengthen the certification of digital service providers, international service providers, etc., and enhance the internationalization and digital delivery capabilities of service outsourcing companies.

Strengthen investment and financing support. Guide local governments to use existing funding channels to support service outsourcing development, and simplify enterprise declaration procedures while ensuring financial security. Give full play to the leveraging role of the Services Trade Innovation and Development Guidance Fund (hereinafter referred to as the Trade in Services Fund) and use market-based methods such as equity investment to drive more social capital investment in the service outsourcing sector. Equity investment funds are encouraged to support science and innovation small and medium-sized service outsourcing enterprises. Strengthen the linkage between trade in services funds and local funds, and support eligible service outsourcing enterprises in accordance with market-based principles through joint establishment of sub-funds or investment in local funds. Support eligible service outsourcing enterprises to finance development using multi-level capital markets. Encourage financial institutions to innovate financial products and services adapted to the development characteristics of service outsourcing, and support financial institutions to expand the policy coverage of intellectual property pledge and order pledge financing for service outsourcing enterprises.

Develop design service outsourcing. Support the creation of a number of national service design centers, support the establishment of service design industry organizations, encourage service design operators to gather in service outsourcing model cities, and encourage the integrated development of industrial design and service design. Research and formulate policy documents for industrial design to enable high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

(4) Implement market development actions.

Diversify to expand the international market. Strengthen service outsourcing cooperation with developed countries, expand cooperation in key service outsourcing areas such as “Belt and Road” co-building countries, ASEAN countries, Central Asian countries, BRICS countries, and Shanghai Cooperation Organization member countries, and enhance the ability to allocate resources and lay out markets on a global scale. Actively explore the use of export credit insurance to support enterprises to expand the international market for outsourcing services. Support enterprises to improve their ability to cope with risks such as large exchange rate fluctuations, international trade frictions, and geopolitical changes.

Strengthen support to promote exhibitions. Support the market-based approach to promote the development of service outsourcing brand exhibitions. Give full play to the role of the Ministry of Commerce as a platform for overseas exhibitions and support enterprises to carry out international exchanges and cooperation. All regions are encouraged to take into account actual support for enterprises to host exhibitions at home and abroad.

(5) Implement industry standards and development actions.

Research the establishment of a standard system. Strengthen the construction of standard systems and technical organizations in the field of service outsourcing, speed up the revision of important standards for service outsourcing, strengthen the implementation and application of standards, and promote compatibility with domestic and international standards.

Revise the Industrial Development Guidance Catalogue. Revise the “Guiding Catalogue for Key Development Areas of the Service Outsourcing Industry” to optimize the scope of key development areas, take digitalization, intelligence, greening and integration as the guide, and include more new business formats and models of service outsourcing.

Improve the statistical survey system. Revise the “Service Outsourcing Statistics Survey System”, improve the service outsourcing statistics system, optimize the functions of the statistical system, and improve the level of statistical monitoring.

(6) Implement talent training actions.

Strengthen the training of service outsourcing personnel. Innovate training models, carry out order-based talent development, and strengthen the global appeal and supply capacity of digital service outsourcing talents in a multi-pronged approach. Support ordinary colleges and vocational colleges to establish faculties and majors related to service outsourcing, and introduce high-quality international teachers and textbooks. Improve the training system for outsourced personnel for social services. Relying on the Chinese University Student Service Outsourcing Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, we will continue to deepen the integration of industry and education, and strengthen the cultivation of practical, professional and innovative talents.

III. Safeguards

All departments should strengthen coordination and coordination, form joint efforts, and jointly study and resolve the blockages and problems that limit the development of service outsourcing. All regions should fully understand the importance of vigorously developing service outsourcing, earnestly carry out implementation, and effectively implement all tasks and achieve effective results. Model cities should further develop their subjective activism and creativity, actively explore in line with local reality, formulate implementation plans for action plans, strengthen organizational implementation, comprehensive coordination and policy guarantees, cultivate industries with special advantages in service outsourcing according to local conditions, and summarize and submit outstanding experience cases in a timely manner. The Ministry of Commerce should give full play to its leading role, strengthen coordination, supervision and guidance, and do a good job of summarizing and replicating experiences in a timely manner.

This article was selected from the “Ministry of Commerce” official website, Zhitong Finance Editor: Liu Jiayin.