中國加入CPTPP談判中的服務貿易重點問題

服務業已發展為全球經濟支柱和國際貿易中最具活力的部分，服務業開放合作是推動世界經濟疫後復蘇的重要力量。作為高水平國際經貿規則的集大成者，CPTPP服務貿易核心紀律體現出晚近該領域規則變革的重要趨勢，包括全面負面清單列表模式、跨境服務貿易中的當地存在規則及電子商務章節的數字產品非歧視待遇義務等方面。申請加入CPTPP有利於我國提升服務業投資和市場准入水平，創新服務貿易發展機制，建設更高水平開放型經濟新體制，從而積極融入全球服務經濟和數字經濟。在未來加入談判中，我國應重視CPTPP負面清單列表模式帶來的全方位挑戰，通過談判進行必要的清單排除、準確理解當地存在規則與商業存在模式的聯繫與區別，逐步減少並合理規制當地存在要求，進一步促進跨境服務貿易。數字產品非歧視待遇涉及廣泛的實體紀律要求，在談判中須關注該義務對我國文化產品規制措施產生的影響並做好相關應對。

The service industry has developed into a major pillar of the global economy, as well as the most dynamic component of international trade. The enhanced market opening and further liberalization of service sectors serves as a key force to the recovery of global economy in the post-Covid era. The core rules on trade in services contained in the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) represent the major trends in services rule-making, including but not limited to, the scheduling approach through negative list, the prohibition of local presence for cross-border trade in services, and the rules on E-Commerce/digital trade. China’s membership application to the CPTPP helps further enhance China’s capability in building a higher-level open economic system, improving the development mechanism for trade in services, and integrating China’s services trade into global service economy in a digital environment. In the future negotiations to join the CPTPP, it is advisable that China attaches more importance to the difficult challenges presented by the CPTPP services rules. Among other things, China should first list its non-conforming trade and investment measures through careful negotiations with the CPTPP members in order to genuinely reflect its market access commitments. Second, it is of great significance for Chinese negotiators to properly understand the rationale behind the prohibition of local presence and then distinguish it from the commercial presence as a mode of supply. It is desirable for China to gradually reduce the local presence requirement so as to promote cross-border trade in services. The non-discriminatory treatment of digital products concerns a wide range of substantive obligations and disciplines and holds key to promoting digital trade. In facilitating the membership application, China should also reasonably assess the implications imposed by this obligation. In particular, the non-discrimination of digital products gives rise to special challenges on China’s various regulations on cultural products. To this end, a delicate balance should be struck between the protection of China’s core interests and the promotion of cultural trade.