The city of Yiwu in East China's Zhejiang province will take 10 measures to boost trade in its service sector and is aiming for 400 billion yuan ($59 billion) in imports and exports, according to an announcement made at a matchmaking event dedicated to trade in services held on Oct 10.

Yiwu is well-known for its robust foreign trade exchange. It has business links with 2 million small and medium-sized companies across the country and 20 million businessmen. It has also established trade ties with more than 200 countries and regions.

In recent years, Yiwu has seen rapid growth in trade in its service sector. The number of e-commerce delivery packages handled in the city accounted for 8 percent of the country's total, and sales made through livestreaming platforms in Yiwu accounted for 5 percent of the national total.

Yiwu has teamed up with Alibaba to build the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), which offers comprehensive services for small and medium-sized companies related to custom clearance, exchange settlements, and tax reimbursements.

The city also established an upgraded international center for trade in services to handle affairs for expats in Yiwu. More than 300,000 affairs are dealt with every year at the center.

There are now 13 China-Europe freight railway lines departing from Yiwu. From January to September, 628 such trains departed from the city, an increase of 146.5 percent year-on-year.

On Aug 30, Yiwu won approval from the State Council to be a part of the Zhejiang Free Trade Pilot Zone, representing a new milestone for the city.

In order to further boost its trade in service industry, Yiwu will take 10 measures, including utilizing digital technology, establishing a trade order center, upgrading its logistics network, and increasing its imports.

Such measures are expected to attract more businessmen from across the globe and enhance the city's status as the "global center of small commodities".