What Beijing and all of China could benefit from in hosting the 2008 Olympics is how to run an economy based no longer on production but on service -- service with international standards.

 

That was exactly what a top municipal official said last Friday at a seminar during Beijing High-Tech Week. Beijing, the official said, has the brightest chance, and indeed is under pressure from a nationwide surge in demand, to develop its service industry.

 

Reportedly 70 percent of Beijing's economy is now in the service sector, not manufacturing. Compared with the rest of China, the capital has particularly large capacities in financial and telecommunication services.

 

Beijing deserves to be proud of its progress in building the service infrastructure -- made possible with resources from all over the country.

 

But more advanced infrastructure does not automatically mean better service. Infrastructure in itself does not generate service.

 

Since the beginning of the year, for instance, there have been widespread complaints about the slowdown in customer service at all banks. Banks have been using many service windows and bank tellers to sell mutual funds. 

 

The domestic stock market has been having its best time in years and business was too brisk to miss. As a result, banking customers had to wait longer than ever.

 

There were so many complaints that the banks finally reacted, mainly by raising the maximum ATM (automatic teller machine) withdrawal from 5,000 yuan to 20,000 yuan.

 

There is a personal risk tied to the decision to increase four-fold the amount of cash that a customer may withdraw from a machine outside a bank building. Will there be a corresponding increase in security measures?

 

The fact is, despite Beijing's claim of extensive development of its service industry, most of it -- the official figure is 80 percent -- is service for production and only a merger 20 percent service for consumers.

 

Such a division still smacks of the planned economy, where production -- however the word was defined -- was always regarded as a loftier pursuit than consumption or consumer spending. If this division still dominates the service industry, the inherent human value of service will be neglected.

 

Every individual deserves the same level of service as a government office or other individuals. This can be defined as the quality or the thoughtfulness of the service providers. For instance, a retail banking customer is no less important than a mutual fund investor.

 

By placing too much emphasis on service to production (and this doesn't include sports), Beijing may have an imbalance in the development of its service industry.

 

If priority is given to all people who need service, rather than dividing the so-called productive demand from the consumer demand, or group demand from individual demand, Beijing can turn itself into a much more user-friendly city.

 

The city's service industry can be much more colorful with more cooperation between specialized private contractors and government offices and large institutions.

 

In fact, at the Beijing High-Tech Week conference where the municipal official was talking about service, some foreign visitors were having trouble getting interpreters.

 

Beijing has no lack of trained interpreters. The only explanation is that the event organizer had no experience in individual services.

 

By YOU NUO

 

(China Daily May 28, 2007)