2023 CIFTIS a success for China

With fruitful results achieved in multiple fields, the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) concluded on Wednesday.

With 155,000 square meters of exhibition area, 10 summits, 102 themed conferences, 18 side conferences and 72 business matching sessions, numerous achievements were accomplished.

Data from the Ministry of Commerce showed that by the noon of Wednesday, over 2,400 enterprises and over 6,700 enterprises participated in the fair offline and online respectively. With nearly 280,000 visitors attended and more than 1,100 results achieved, the fair's international participation and influence power was further increased.

According to the ministry, 83 countries and international organizations participated in the fair this year, a nearly 17 percent increase than that of last year. A wide range of innovative exhibits, covering the fields of clean energy, healthcare, artificial intelligence, quantum measurement and control, and satellite remote sensing, were showcased.

During the summits held in the fair, all parties unanimously believe that digital service trade and green service trade are becoming important areas to promote the growth of trade in services globally.

The rapid recovery of the world tourism market also injects new vitality into world economic growth, and the world should deepen cooperation in various fields of service trade, they said.

Numerous latest achievements were launched. A total of 75 renowned enterprises and institutions launched 139 results, among which 125 belongs to the fields of AI, fin-tech, healthcare and cultural creativity.

Zhang Guosheng, deputy head of the department of trade in services and commercial services at the MOC, said: "In the next step, we will ramp up efforts in optimizing the business environment for service trade opening-up, deepening service trade relationships with major partners, and injecting new vitality to service trade with constant innovations."

China had expanded its share of global commercial services exports from 3 percent in 2005 to 5.4 percent in 2022, according to a report titled Trade in Services for Development, which was jointly released by the World Bank Group and the World Trade Organization in July.

In the first seven months of this year, China's services trade value grew 8.1 percent year on year to reach 3.67 trillion yuan ($511.2 billion), data from the MOC showed.