A tourist tests perfume products at a stand of an evening market in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. [Photo by Wang Jianzhong/For China Daily]

Over next five years, the key sector may account for 60 percent of GDP

The further opening up of China's services market will give strong impetus to China's consumer spending and create more room for investment from foreign businesses in the next five years, according to a senior economist.

Chi Fulin, president of the China Institute for Reform and Development, said greater strides in opening-up will be a crucial measure in unleashing the potential of China's domestic consumption, especially in the services sector, during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

The period is expected to see heavy consumer spending on services, especially healthcare, tourism, culture and education, he said, adding the share of services in the total GDP could increase to 60 percent by 2025, compared with 53.9 percent last year.

"The upgrade in consumption structure will give rise to stronger demand for high-quality services closely related to consumers' daily lives, which means furthering opening-up in those sectors is inevitable," he said.

Under the blueprint for social and economic development proposed by the Communist Party of China Central Committee for the next five years, the country will widen market access to consumption in services and open up the sector even wider to foreign investment.

Chi projected that China's consumer spending on services could rise by at least 1 percentage point annually in the next five years, and spending on services could account for 50 to 52 percent of the total consumption by 2025.

"There is still immense potential from the adjustment in China's consumption structure, and we believe services will be a key driver of growth in the near future," he said.