The service sector contributes much to both economic development and people's wellbeing. Over the past five years, what role has Sichuan's service sector played in boosting the economy of the whole province? What positive changes have occurred in the life of the masses? On May 11, the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Statistics released an analysis report, summarizing the development of the province's service sector in the past five years.
The service sector sees high total value and fast-growing market players
With scale expansion, the total value of the service sector has jumped to the top of the three major sectors. Analysis shows that the added value in the province's service sector rose from 1.6 trillion yuan in 2016 to 2.8 trillion yuan in 2021. In terms of the total value of the sector, Sichuan ranked 8th in China. As of the industrial structure, the primary, secondary and service sectors respectively account for 11.8%, 40.6% and 47.6% in 2016 and 10.5%, 37.0% and 52.5% in 2021. The service sector recorded an increase of 4.9 percentage points to account for more than half.
The sector's added value achieved phenomenal growth. The annual growth rate, 9.7% in 2017, 9.5% in 2018, 8.4% in 2019 and 8.9% in 2021, maintained over 8%, except 3.4% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The average annual increase reached 8.0%, 1.3 percentage points higher than the national average and 0.9 percentage points higher than the province's GDP growth rate.
The service sector is playing an increasingly prominent role in the province's economic development. The sector's contribution expanded to 57.2% in 2021 from 51.5% in 2016, rising more than one percentage point per year on average. As the sector's proportion and contribution both exceeded 50%, it is becoming another growth engine, at an increasingly accelerated pace, to the province's economic development besides the industry.
Besides, the service sector has seen more new market players. As the business system reform is deepened, the business environment in Sichuan keeps improving. The number of market entities of the service sector in the province has been increasing rapidly. In 2021, the number of new market entities in the sector amounted to 1.215 million, accounting for nearly 90% of the total increase.
Emerging industries are growing rapidly while traditional ones are going through transformation and upgrading
The speedy development of transportation makes the access to Sichuan much easier. As Chengdu Tianfu International Airport was put into operation, Chengdu became the third city in China that boasts two international airports. With the acceleration of the construction of New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, railways in Sichuan reached 5,687 kilometers long in 2021, 1,064 kilometers more than in 2016. In total, there have been 40 roads connecting Sichuan and other parts of China. The number of trains' arrivals at and departures from the province totaled 4,358 and the number of overseas stations of China Railway Express (Chengdu) reached 68. The annual container throughput of inland river ports was up to 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units.
Postal services and communications have been developing at a brisk pace and 4G networks have been upgraded to 5G ones. Sichuan has built modern postal networks and 5G telecommunication networks including fiber-optic cables, mobile communications and data communications. In 2021, the telecommunication services in the province achieved revenue of 93.68 billion yuan. The number of mobile phone users amounted to 93.389 million, 1.3 times that of 2016. The year also recorded 32.209 million fixed broadband users and 79.908 million mobile internet users, 1.7 and 1.3 times that of 2016 respectively. Parcels delivered reached 2.78 billion, an average annual rise of more than 0.3 billion.
With the development of modern finance, ensuring steady economy growth has become the primary task, which used to be risk prevention. In 2021, the deposit and loan balance of financial institutions in the province reached 17,760.91 billion yuan, up 64.5% from 2016. The number of insurance companies surged to 102 in 2021 from 15 in 2016. There were 32.869 million accounts opened, 2.2 times that of 2016. The annual securities trading volume reached 21,386.06 billion yuan, 1.9 times that of 2016.
The sudden rise of the new economy has helped quite a few small enterprises develop into unicorns. The modern service sector, represented by software information, e-commerce and scientific research, has witnessed explosive growth. From 2016 to 2021, enterprises above a designated size in information transmission, software and information technology services amounted to 988 from 709; those in scientific research and technology services rose to 922 from 576. The above-mentioned services achieved revenue of 441.1 billion yuan, accounting for 44.1% of the total of all enterprises above a designated size in the service sector.
As the strength in scientific research has been significantly enhanced, the province has transformed itself from a "follower" to a "developer" of technologies. The number of provincial engineering technology research centers totaled 375 in 2021, double that in 2016. The application of 146,937 patents was approved, including 19,337 patents of invention, up 140% and 86.8% respectively from 2016. In addition, the province has embraced eight state-level hi-tech industrial development zones, 40 state-level sci-tech enterprise incubators, 75 state-level maker spaces, 96 state-level rural maker spaces and 22 state-level international sci-tech cooperation bases.
Industries enhancing people's sense of wellbeing are thriving as people live a better life
Higher-quality consumption has gradually become a hot topic. Urban and rural consumers have shifted their attention from quantity to quality, and from the consumption of products to that of services. From 2017 to 2021, the average annual growth of retail sales of cultural and office supplies above the designated amount reached 14.9%, and that of sports and entertainment goods, communication equipment, and cosmetics reached 12.7%, 12.3%, and 10.1% respectively.
Tourism is booming. In recent years, Sichuan focused on accelerating the development of tourism resources and products, and expediting the construction of the province into a tourism powerhouse and an important tourist destination in the world. The Land of Abundance has gradually become one of people's favorite tourist destinations. In 2020, the province recorded 0.45 billion domestic visits, achieving revenue of 717.01 billion yuan. The number of tourist attractions with an A rating jumped to 793 in late 2021 from 387 in 2016.
Moreover, the development of science, education, culture and health has been consolidated and optimized. In terms of education, the number of university and technical college students on campus reached 1.921 million in 2021, up 32.8% from 2016; that of postgraduate students on campus amounted to 0.147 million. The province has also seen a wider variety of cultural products. The number of museums increased by 25 from 2016 to reach 263. With continuous improvement in sanitary conditions, the number of beds in medical and health institutions totaled 0.661 million, rising by 0.142 million from 2016; the number of health workers grew by 0.178 million to reach 0.674 million; total visits to medical institutions were up to 546.472 million, expanding by 11.8%.
