(Yicai Global) Nov. 6 -- China will further loosen up market access for foreign companies in the service industry, according to the commerce ministry.

The Asian country will relax foreign ownership limits in fields such as value-added telecommunications, commercial services, and transportation, the ministry wrote in a report released at the third China International Import Expo today.

The shift should reach different segments of the service industry. China will accelerate the opening-up of service sectors related to information technology, medical care, science and technology, education, as well as culture and entertainment, the ministry said in the report.

The ministry made some predictions. The scale of China's service imports should reach USD2.5 trillion in the next five years, accounting for over 10 percent of the global tally, according to the report. The figure could exceed USD10 trillion in the next 15 years, it added.

Tourism should grow. Service imports in that sector should surpass USD1 trillion over the next five years, the ministry predicted. Other popular commercial fields include intellectual property licensing, telecoms, computer and information services, finance, and insurance, which should tally USD1.3 trillion in total by then.

China is also encouraging foreign-funded enterprises to join building special service export zones in the fields of Chinese culture, digital business, and traditional Chinese medicine.

Editor: Emmi Laine