Special Management Measures for Cross-border Trade in Services in Hainan Free Trade Port issued by the Ministry of Commerce

After approval by the State Council, the Ministry of Commerce issued the "Special Management Measures for Cross-border Trade in Services in Hainan Free Trade Port (Negative List) (2021 Edition)", which is the first negative list published by my country in the field of cross-border trade in services! Once again demonstrates the strength and depth of my country's opening up! The negative list only includes 70 special management measures in 11 categories. The areas outside the negative list are managed in Hainan Free Trade Port in accordance with the principle of equal treatment of domestic and foreign services and service providers.

What is the negative list for cross-border trade in services?

The negative list for cross-border trade in services is a major model adopted by current international high-standard free trade agreements in making opening arrangements in related fields.

According to the definition of the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services, there are four modes for the provision of trade in services: "cross-border delivery", "overseas consumption", "commercial presence" and "natural person movement". Among them, mode three "commercial presence" belongs to investment. The familiar negative list for foreign investment access has already listed the special management measures for foreign investors under this model. The provision of services in mode one, that is, "cross-border delivery", mode two "overseas consumption" and mode four "natural person movement" are collectively referred to as cross-border trade in services. The negative list of cross-border trade in services for Hainan Free Trade Port will list the special management measures that foreign service providers will face when providing services to Hainan Free Trade Port under these three modes. In areas outside the list, domestic and foreign services and service providers will be treated equally.

Scope of application of the negative list of cross-border trade in services

The "Special Management Measures for Cross-border Trade in Services for Hainan Free Trade Port (Negative List) (2021 Edition)" uniformly lists special management measures for foreign service providers to provide services in a cross-border manner (through cross-border delivery, overseas consumption, and natural person movement modes) in terms of national treatment, market access, local presence, and cross-border trade in financial services. It is applicable to Hainan Free Trade Port and covers the entire island of Hainan.