Africa’s Trade in Services

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AFRICA
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S SILK ROAD
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CHINA AND INDIA
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S NEW ECONOMIC FRONTIER
Exports of Services by Asia
In 2004, China and India also sustained high growth rates of services exports. India, in particular, had an average service export growth rate of almost 20 percent. China’s services exports for 2003 were about $46 billion. Nearly half of that amount came from travel and tourism, yet all services made up barely 10 percent of China’s total exports. China’s continued economic growth depends on further development of its services sectors,
including services such as banking, insurance, securities, management consulting, telecommunications and information technology (IT, tourism,
education, training, and engineering services (see box 2.2). India exported billion in services and $56 billion in goods in 2003. India’s services
BOX 2.2
Increasing Chinese Trade in Services
Tourism: China has become one of largest outbound tourist markets.
There is a sustained Chinese outbound tourism boom. According to the
World Tourism Organization, China is projected to supply 100 million travelers by 2020, making it the number one supplier of outbound tourists. In terms of total travel spending, China is currently ranked seventh and is expected to be the second fastest growing in the world from 2006 to jumping into the number two slot for total travel spending by 2015.
Transport: The Chinese government is in the midst of a massive upgrade of its existing transportation infrastructure. To keep its economy moving forward, China must have an efficient system in place to move goods and people across this 9.326 billion square kilometer landmass. Passenger rail traffic has priority over freight on the many single-track rail lines across China. Rail tracks are now being doubled to alleviate the freight train conflict issues, expressways are being built to cut down on vehicular travel times,
sealed roads are being extended to new locations, ports are being improved for greater use of China’s waterways, and airports are being improved across the country. This boom in construction will offer opportunities to local and foreign construction services firms.
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PERFORMANCE AND PATTERNS OF AFRICAN
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ASIAN TRADE AND INVESTMENT FLOWS
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exports are also more heavily weighted to finance, telecom, call centers,
and other ”IT-enabled” services than to tourism (see figure 2.21).

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