Capital unveils 3-year services initiative

Beijing is introducing a three-year pilot program to further open up its services sector, the city's vice-mayor said on Tuesday.

Cheng Hong told a news conference held at the State Council Information Office that the city will implement a series of measures to ease market access and optimize its market mechanisms.

The pilot involves six major areas: science and technology, Internet and information, finance, business, tourism, and health and medical care.

Around 80 separate initiatives are proposed, said Cheng.

"We will gradually open up more avenues of capital, relax and lift restrictions on foreign shareholding, loosen funding limits on business qualification, and broaden the scope of investment," she said, adding the measures are particularly likely to help local companies tap international markets.

Last year, the capital city's gross domestic product reached 2.13 trillion yuan ($334 billion). The services industry's added value was worth 1.66 trillion yuan, a 7.5 percent year-on-year increase, contributing 77.9 percent of local GDP.