The agreement on trade in services between mainland China and Macau, which came into effect on Wednesday, 1 June, will allow companies from 153 areas of activity to offer their services in the interior of China.
The document, which is an extension of the Closer Economic and Trade Partnership Arrangement between China and Macau (CEPA) was signed in November 2015 by interim Chief Executive and the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Leong Vai Tac and the Deputy Trade Minister, Wang Shouwen.
A statement released on the occasion said that the purpose of extending the CEPA agreement was to gradually reduce or eliminate “discriminatory measures in the trade of substantially existing services between Macau and mainland China.”
The areas of activity that will benefit from national treatment include four newly liberalised areas: veterinary services, passenger transport services, services to support road transport and sports services.
Easier access to the market will also be given to 28 sectors including legal services, accounting, construction and banking, among others, and after the implementation of the Agreement 153 Macau service sectors will be liberalised in China, “representing 95.6 per cent of the 160 sectors classified according to the criteria of the World Trade Organisation.”
(Macau News/Macauhub)
