Chapter 7
Global Services Market: The West’s Edge and China as Number Five
China’s sensational performance as a manufacturing superpower left in the shadow its rapidly growing presence in the global market of commercial services. On the other hand, in the services sector the West retains a significant edge it can sharpen even further. Here it is in a good position to capture the rapidly expanding markets of China and other large developing countries, but at this point its services exports to those countries are surprisingly small.
China Joins the Ranks of Leading Services Exporters, but the United States Is Far Ahead
Between 2000 and 2009, China jumped from the eleventh to the fifth position among the world’s largest services exporters, overtaking a number of European countries and Japan, and increasing its share of global services exports from 2 percent to almost 4 percent (Table 7.1).
Table 7.1 Exports of Commercial Services by Country ($ million)
Source: WTO International Trade Statistics.
| Country | 2000 | 2009 |
| United States | 278,089 | 473,899 |
| UK | 118,567 | 233,316 |
| Germany | 79,659 | 226,638 |
| France | 82,115 | 142,487 |
| China | 30,146 | 128,600 |
| Japan | 69,430 | 125,858 |
| Spain | 52,112 | 122,126 |
| Italy | 59,898 | 101,237 |
| India | 16,031 | 87,434 |
| World | 1,483,900 | 3,350,200 |
Within the same period, its services exports grew 4.3 times against 2.3 times for the world, 2.8 times for Germany, 2.3 times for Spain, 1.9 times for the Netherlands and South Korea, 1.8 times for Japan and Italy, and 1.7 ...
