Services sector achievements highlight Brand Day

As China marked its 10th Brand Day on Sunday, the booming development of the country's services sector was reflected in seemingly ordinary daily scenarios - from food delivery arriving on demand to mobile payments covering nearly every aspect of daily consumption. Behind these conveniences lies China's accelerating shift toward a consumption-driven and digitally powered economy, with services and manufacturing mutually reinforcing each other in driving economic growth, a Chinese market watcher said.

On this occasion, multiple regions held promotional events for local Chinese brands, showcasing the innovative dynamism of Chinese brands.

Chinese brands have long served the domestic market, and are increasingly extending their reach overseas. Amid the rising "China Travel" trend, Chinese service brands are further enhancing accessibility and convenience for foreign travelers, with online payment services emerging as a key area of focus.

On April 28, Alipay launched its "Travel Wallet" feature, designed to facilitate inbound consumption, on the "GO BEIJING" platform, marking its debut. The service provides another convenient payment option for foreign visitors in China, according to Beijing Youth Daily.

Since the nation introduced its 240-hour visa-free transit policy, an increasing number of foreign visitors have been exploring the country, experiencing first-hand the convenience of modern Chinese life, according to China Media Group's (CMG) Sunday report.

This has also given rise to a growing "becoming Chinese" trend, reflected in how many visitors quickly adapt to China's digital services and everyday consumption habits, the report said. What may appear to be ordinary daily interactions in fact highlight the rapid development of China's services sector.

Citing payment data released by the People's Bank of China, during the recent May Day holiday period (from May 1 to 5, 2026), UnionPay and NetsUnion processed payment transactions by inbound visitors to China that increased 45.15 percent in volume and 36.96 percent in value year-on-year, according to Beijing Business Today.

Cultivating more "China Service" brands is significant because a brand represents a comprehensive reflection of a company's competitiveness, an expert noted.

While China has a large number of service-sector enterprises, relatively few have yet emerged as internationally competitive leaders with globally recognized brands.

According to Xinhua, it is the first time that the Chinese government mentioned enhancing the capacity and quality of the services sector in this year's Government Work Report (GWR).

Leveraging national platforms such as China Brand Day, China is shifting from breakthroughs in individual products to a dual focus on both products and services, in support of building a stronger brand-oriented economy.

Building "China Service" brands is an unavoidable step in China's economic transformation and aligns with wider shifts in global industrial competition, said Bian Yongzu, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine.

A strong and complete manufacturing base provides the foundation for the development of the services sector, while the upgrading of high-end manufacturing also increasingly depends on advanced services to fill key gaps, address structural weaknesses, and support higher value-added growth across the industrial chain, according to Bian.

In 2025, China's value-added output of the services sector surpassed 80 trillion yuan ($11.1 trillion) for the first time, accounting for 57.7 percent of GDP, official data showed. The sector contributed 61.4 percent to national economic growth, up 3.7 percentage points from a year earlier, and has accounted for roughly half of the economy for 11 consecutive years.