The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently issued pilot approvals for value-added telecommunications business operations to the first batch of 13 foreign-funded enterprises in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan, and Shenzhen. Relevant enterprises can carry out value-added telecom services such as Internet access and information services according to the approved contents. According to data, as of the end of February this year, there were over 2400 foreign-invested telecommunications enterprises in China, an increase of 30% compared to the same period last year. The 13 foreign-invested enterprises that have received approval for the pilot operation this time are mostly well-known multinational enterprises. After carrying out related businesses, they will bring more diverse telecommunications services and products to Chinese consumers, further stimulate market vitality, improve the quality and level of telecommunications services, and better meet the growing digital life needs of the people. In recent years, China's telecommunications industry has actively integrated with the international community, participated in the formulation of international standards and rules, and strengthened cooperation and exchanges with international telecommunications organizations. By attracting foreign investment and promoting local enterprises to go global, China's telecommunications industry has made significant progress in internationalization and global connectivity. Peng Jian, Director of the Policy and Regulation Research Institute at CCID Research Institute, analyzed that as foreign-funded enterprises enter more areas of value-added telecommunications services, it will promote technological innovation and industrial upgrading, providing consumers with better services and more choices. By expanding opening up to the outside world, China's telecommunications industry will attract more foreign investment, injecting new vitality and momentum into the high-quality development of the domestic economy. It is reported that China's telecommunications industry has voluntarily expanded its commitment to open up 4 out of 10 value-added telecommunications services since joining the World Trade Organization to 8, and has lifted the foreign equity ratio restrictions on 4 of them. The scope of telecommunications service opening has steadily expanded. From being the first to launch a pilot program for opening up value-added telecommunications services to the outside world in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone in 2013, to replicating the policy to all pilot free trade zones in 2018, the scope of the pilot program has continued to expand. This time, based on their own development positioning and resource endowment, the four regions will implement pilot opening-up work in a differentiated and step-by-step manner. By carrying out pilot projects to expand the opening up of value-added telecommunications services, we can fully leverage the advantages of the four regions' institutional mechanisms, take the lead in forming replicable and promotable experiences of opening up in the telecommunications field, and continuously deepen institutional opening up, "said Peng Jian. The relevant person in charge of the Information and Communication Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced that since last year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has launched pilot projects to expand the opening up of value-added telecommunications services in four regions, and the willingness of foreign-funded enterprises to invest in China's telecommunications business market has further increased. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology strengthens policy promotion and guidance, optimizes service management, and guides enterprises to apply for pilot approval of value-added telecommunications services in accordance with the law. The issuance of this approval is another landmark achievement of China's information and communication industry's opening up to the outside world. It is not only an important practice for China to actively connect with international high standard economic and trade rules, but also an important measure to comprehensively deepen reform and promote institutional opening up. The person in charge stated that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will further deepen reforms comprehensively, actively create a market-oriented, rule of law, and international business environment, continue to promote the opening up of the telecommunications industry to the outside world, support more qualified foreign-funded enterprises to join the pilot program of expanding value-added telecommunications services, explore more new business models, stimulate market vitality, and help build a higher-level open economic system. Experts suggest further revising and improving the laws and regulations on the opening up of the telecommunications industry to the outside world, clarifying the admission conditions, business scope, and regulatory requirements for foreign-funded enterprises, and providing solid legal protection for the opening up of the telecommunications industry to the outside world. Simplify the approval process for foreign-funded enterprises in the telecommunications field, improve approval efficiency, and enhance the convenience of enterprises entering the Chinese market. Expanding the pilot program of opening up to foreign investment in the telecommunications industry is not simply about "dividing the cake" in the telecommunications market, but more importantly, expanding the "cake". Currently, emerging technologies represented by artificial intelligence are leading a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Foreign enterprises should be encouraged to actively explore new forms and models of cross-border integration in the pilot open telecommunications business field, and work together with Chinese enterprises to continuously expand the incremental market of the telecommunications industry, forming a good ecosystem for sustainable and healthy development, "said Peng Jian. (New Society)