Barriers to international trade in services refer to measures formulated and taken by a government to hinder international trade in services, including policy measures and legal measures. Since the cross-border movement of service trade is characterized by the movement of people, capital, service products and information, it is generally not registered by the customs, so it may not be effective to use border measures such as tariffs and quotas to protect the domestic service industry from external shocks. On the contrary, laws, regulations and administrative measures restricting foreign service providers have become the main protective means and obstacles to the development of international service trade. The characteristics of international service trade barriers and service products determine the basic mode of international service trade today, that is, (1) personnel flow, that is, natural persons provide services in other countries, such as construction contracting and labor export; (2) Physical existence refers to providing services by setting up institutions in other countries, such as opening department stores and law firms; (3) Consumer mobility refers to providing services to foreign consumers in China, the most typical of which is tourism; (4) entrepot trade refers to the services provided by service providers directly from their own countries to consumers in another country, such as telecommunications services, and transnational consultation, information, finance and design realized by means of telecommunications. The commercial activities engaged in these four ways are the service trade defined by the General Agreement on Trade in Services. If the trade in goods mainly condenses the cross-border movement of labor, then the trade in services is basically realized through the cross-border movement of labor providers (or buyers); Therefore, policy barriers to trade in services are necessarily different from trade in goods. To sum up, the barriers to trade in services mainly have the following characteristics: (1) domestic policies are dominant; (2) more restrictions on the qualifications and activities of "people" (natural persons, legal persons and other economic organizations); (3) It is formulated by different domestic departments, which is complicated and lacks unified coordination; (4) flexibility and concealment, strong selectivity and strong protection; (5) In addition to commercial and trade interests, national security and sovereign interests are also emphasized as policy objectives. Classification of international service trade barriers It is difficult to accurately classify international service trade barriers because of their various types and forms. Therefore, it is usually classified from the perspective of factors that hinder the flow of service trade, that is, people, capital, service products and information in the international market: 1. Obstacles to capital flow. It mainly involves the problem of commercial existence, that is, whether the host country allows foreign enterprises to set up institutions in their own countries to conduct business. 2. Obstacles to personnel flow. Laws that mainly involve immigration restrictions in various countries. Due to the differences in immigration laws, work permits and professional permits in different countries, the contents and methods of restrictions are also different. 3. Obstacles to the flow of service products. Market access restrictions, that is, the procedures for host countries to allow foreign service providers to enter their own markets. This restriction often stipulates the maximum supply of services. When the services provided by foreign service providers exceed the limit, foreign service products are completely prevented from entering the domestic market and only domestic services are used. 4. Obstacles to information flow. Because the information transmission mode involves sensitive issues such as national sovereignty, monopoly operation, national public telecommunication network and private secrets, all countries have various restrictions, such as technical standards, network access, price and equipment supply, data processing and copying, storage, use and transmission, subsidies, tax and foreign exchange control, and government industrial control policies. These measures not only hinder the development of information service trade, but also restrict the development of other service trade, because information flow is a prerequisite for service providers such as finance, tourism, transportation, warehousing, construction, accounting, auditing and law. 5. Operational restrictions. This is to limit the business scope, mode, etc. Even by regulating the activities of foreign service entities in their own countries, they can intervene in their specific business decisions. It is worth noting that with the gradual liberalization of trade in services, absolute entry barriers in the form of restrictions on business rights are facing increasing international pressure, and restrictions on specific business rights not only reflect moderate opening to the outside world, but also tend to weaken the competitiveness and profitability of foreign service operators in their own countries. Therefore, this will become a very important form of barriers to international trade in services. Moreover, it is also an "adjustable" barrier, and the content, degree and mode of various business restrictions can be constantly changed and adjusted according to the requirements of domestic social, economic and industrial development and international service trade liberalization. The phenomenon of using GATS to cross the barriers of international service trade is becoming increasingly obvious, which has aroused widespread concern in various countries. Many countries have made efforts to open the service market and realize the liberalization of service trade by signing bilateral and multilateral treaties, especially the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) signed in February199/kloc-0. It laid the foundation for internationalization, liberalization and legalization of service trade. First of all, GATS put forward the principle of unconditional most-favored-nation treatment, that is, every member should immediately and unconditionally give any other member the same service or service provider no less than this treatment. Therefore, we can consider setting up more service departments for countries with weak competitiveness in exchange for China's more relaxed access and conditions in these countries' service markets. We can make use of the principle of gradual participation of developing countries determined by GATS, that is, giving corresponding flexibility according to the development of developing countries in order to increase the participation of developing countries, as well as some exceptions and exemptions from the principle of most-favored-nation treatment. Second, in order to gradually open the service market, deepen the degree of market opening, and finally realize the liberalization of service trade, GATS put forward the principle of market access, that is, the treatment given by one member to other members' service providers should not be lower than the time limit, restrictions and conditions specified in its commitment schedule. Moreover, GATS also stipulates that countries cannot maintain or adopt quantitative quotas, monopoly and franchise service providers in their service sectors that have made market access commitments unless they are included in their specific commitment tables; Number of quota and the way to determine economic demand limit the total amount of service transactions or assets; Limit the total number of service transactions and services provided in units of quantity by adopting quotas or requiring the determination of economic demand; Unreasonable measures, such as limiting the total number of natural persons that service departments or service providers need to hire to provide specific services by adopting quantitative quotas or requiring the determination of economic needs. Thirdly, in order to ensure that the trade opportunities in the service sector are not hindered by discriminatory measures in some countries, such as local content requirements and non-tariff barriers, GATS puts forward the principle of national treatment, that is, a member party gives services and service providers from any other member party no less treatment than those enjoyed by the country in terms of laws, regulations and management. This is particularly important for all service enterprises in China to carry out transnational operations. Fourthly, in order to seek fair competition in international service trade, GATS has established the principle of transparency, that is, members must publish laws, regulations, administrative missions and other decisions, rules and practices that affect the implementation of the agreement before they take effect, regardless of whether these decisions, rules and practices are formulated by the central or local governments or by non-governmental organizations with the right to make rules. In addition, member States must publish all other international agreements that affect trade in services. Amendments to published relevant regulations and laws shall also be notified to the Council for Trade in Services in a timely manner. For any other member party's special information requirements on laws, regulations, administrative orders and decisions, general measures and international treaties, it shall give a timely reply. At the same time, members should set up one or more advisory bodies to provide them with specialized information according to the requirements of other countries or regions and fulfill their notification obligations. In view of this, we can improve the service industry management association or chamber of commerce, collect the service industry management regulations, administrative orders and decisions of other countries from the consulting institutions established by the WTO Secretariat and other members in time, and provide direct information for the transnational operation of China's service industry and formulate corresponding strategies. Fifthly, in the service trade, because the service quality depends on the education, professional title, experience and technical level of the service provider, GATS requires all members to recognize each other's licenses and certificates in terms of education level, experience and qualification, and finally cooperate in accordance with international unified standards. This is of great significance to China, a country with competitive labor costs. While actively asking other countries to open their service markets to China, they should sign agreements with relevant countries to recognize China's technical titles, academic qualifications and other qualifications, so as to better participate in international service trade, gain market access opportunities and get corresponding service remuneration. Okay？