The 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (hereinafter referred to as "CIFTIS") opened in Beijing on September 2. The scale of exhibitors at this CIFTIS has expanded, with over 2,400 enterprises exhibiting offline, including more than 500 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders. The total exhibition area is 155,000 square meters, with nearly 280,000 visitors in total. 59 countries and 24 international organizations set up exhibitions and conferences, 12 more than the previous session, with an overall internationalization rate exceeding 20%. The United Kingdom, as the guest country of honor, formed the largest service trade exhibition delegation since its participation. With the theme of "Development Led by Opening-up, Cooperation for Mutual Benefit Towards the Future", this CIFTIS adopts the "offline + online" and "comprehensive + themed" conference model, and is held in the "one fair across two venues" format, namely the National Convention Center and Shougang Park. It continues to set up nine themed exhibitions on financial services, culture and tourism services, education services, sports services, environmental services, etc., and hosts six major events including the Global Service Trade Summit, exhibitions, forums and conferences, promotion and matchmaking. As the first national, international and comprehensive fair for trade in services in China, CIFTIS serves as a showcase, exchange platform and bridge for cooperation in the service industry and trade in services.

01 Expanding circle of friends with in-depth integration of international cooperation

The internationalization and specialization levels of this CIFTIS have been improved. A total of 83 countries and international organizations set up exhibitions and conferences in the name of governments or headquarters, 12 more than the previous session. 27 countries including Germany, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Argentina, Benin, and 7 international organizations including UNICEF and UNAIDS set up offline exhibitions in the international area of the comprehensive exhibition. 8 countries and international organizations including Georgia, Benin, and UNICEF set up exhibitions for the first time in the name of governments or headquarters. Exhibiting countries focused on showcasing characteristic service areas of each country featuring digital economy, cultural services, tourism services, education services, medical services, and latest development achievements. The internationalization rate of offline exhibitors exceeds 20%, including more than 500 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders, covering the top 30 countries and regions in global service trade. The "circle of friends" has been further expanded. In-depth cooperation has been strengthened with major supporting international organizations of CIFTIS such as holding the Global Service Trade Summit. International organizations such as UNIDO, WIPO and WMO will also set up exhibitions and conferences.

02 Enhanced specialization with supporting activities to promote high-performance outcomes

This CIFTIS focuses on improving discussion quality by setting up six major events including the Global Service Trade Summit, exhibitions, forums and conferences, promotion and matchmaking, achievement releases and supporting activities. It held over 100 events such as promotion of the special session on the service industry for the “Invest in China Year” to further explore the path of opening-up cooperation and mutual benefit in services. Among the various forums and conferences, 66 were hosted by international organizations, embassies in China, overseas institutions and relevant ministries and commissions of China. Over 100 authoritative information will be released, including the Report on China's Service Trade Development, Global Tourism City Development Report, White Paper on R&D Index of Chinese Pharmaceutical Companies. Over 340 domestic and foreign guests will participate, including 19 heads of international organizations, 83 ministerial and higher-level guests from home and abroad, 57 Chinese and foreign academicians and Nobel laureates, 125 executives from Fortune Global 500 companies and multinational corporations. They will focus discussions on hot topics such as trade in services facilitation, Belt and Road cooperation, scientific and technological innovation, and new formats of culture and tourism. 75 well-known enterprises and institutions released 139 achievements, of which 66 released 125 new products and technologies in areas such as AI, fintech, healthcare, cultural creativity, producing a number of outstanding achievements like digital maps of industrial belts and digital solutions for smart laboratories. Professionals from all over the world collide with each other here to develop strategies for global economic cooperation.

03 Dual-engine drive activates new impetus for trade in services

Currently, China's opening-up in the service sector continues to deepen. Digitalization and green development serve as dual engines driving innovation in trade in services. This year's CIFTIS will further highlight the leading role of technological, model and format innovation. The comprehensive exhibition and nine themed exhibitions will focus on showcasing leading specialized and innovative achievements in areas like chip technology, quantum metrology, satellite remote sensing, AI, digital healthcare, guide industry innovation trends, and inject new vitality and impetus into the development of trade in services. At Qualcomm's exhibition stand, the world's first fully Android smartphone-based generative AI model terminal-side demonstration is presented. It can quickly understand users' needs described in natural language, and with over 10 billion image-related parameters, execute up to 20 reasoning steps to create the image desired by the user. At this CIFTIS, Zuoyebang released its self-developed Generative Model, Galaxy AI. In response to a wide variety of questions raised by on-site visitors such as "How to write a composition describing spring", "What are some ABAB chengyu", "How to analyze geometry problems in a simple and easy-to-understand way", "Do plants need to sleep", "What are some characteristics of giant pandas", the Yinhe Generative Model can quickly and accurately provide answers.

04 Perspectives

As the first national, international and comprehensive fair for trade in services in China, CIFTIS serves as a showcase, exchange platform and bridge for cooperation in the service industry and trade in services. CIFTIS continues to improve its marketization and internationalization levels, providing an international public good and effective communication channel for countries around the world to strengthen cooperation in trade in services, promoting the sharing and exchange of cutting-edge concepts, advanced technologies, innovative achievements, and industry standards in the field of trade in services, and turning the Chinese market into a market for the world, a market shared by all, to contribute strength in trade in services and promote economic globalization and restore vibrancy to the global economy and enhance resilience of global economic growth.

Text & Images Source | CIFTIS Official Website

Text | Hua Hongqi

Layout | Chen Yifan

Editor | Mao Haijun