In 2016, as the window of foreign exchange in Wuhan opened up, lead by the well-developed fin-tech and e-commerce industry, Jiang’an district shifted its development focus to modern service industry, which brought up the proportion of gross consumption from 77% to 81%; the shift helped build a strong modern service industry, including the finance & commercial service, real estate, creative design and travel industry. Located at the geographic and economic heart of mainland China and equipped with reputable higher education institutions, Wuhan, as the national pilot of service and trade innovation (国家服务贸易创新发展试点), increased its total export-import volume of service by 52% from 2015. 

AmCham Shanghai’s 2016 China Business Report states: “the year 2015 was particularly challenging for business in China. The backdrop to the unease is China’s long expected but potentially choppy transition from a primarily low-end manufacturing economy to one based around value-added goods and services.” For China, seizing strategic opportunities to develop the modern service industry during the “Post-crisis” period is key to ensuring a stable economic transition. It will help China transform its rising economy, enhance its innovation of science and technology, and become an innovative country with strategic significance.