Abstract: Currently, the world economy has entered a period of "slow globalization" and profound adjustments in the new era of economic globalization. Global value chains are accelerating their restructuring toward regionalization, nearshoring, and security-oriented models, and economic globalization is shifting from the globalization of manufacturing to that of the service sector. From the perspectives of policy orientation and practical needs, accelerating the opening-up and upgrading of the service sector is an inevitable choice for integrating into the global economy. By 2025, the scale of China's trade in services will continue to expand, yet it will still exhibit characteristics such as "being large but not strong, structural imbalances, a persistent trade deficit, and weaknesses in high-end sectors". Insufficient internationalization capabilities in professional services remain the key bottleneck constraining the leap from a large to a strong trade in services. To enhance the international competitiveness of China's service sector, the following policy recommendations are proposed: First, seize the critical strategic window of 3–5 years during the early to mid-phase of the 15th Five-Year Plan; second, establish an evaluation system for professional service capabilities and implement tiered, targeted cultivation; third, break down barriers through institutional opening-up and align with high international standards; fourth, eliminate key bottlenecks in the dual circulation strategy and build a full-chain service ecosystem; fifth, design a gradual path to internationalization to achieve low-cost leapfrog development; and sixth, improve the policy support system to solidify the foundation for international development.
