Photo: Li Qiaoyi/GT

The 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is scheduled for early September in Beijing with a focus on digital trade, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Tuesday, describing the major services exhibition with wide participation of foreign institutions as a manifestation of the country's commitment to ramp up market opening. 

The CIFTIS will commence on September 2 and run through September 7 with over 100 forums and business negotiations to be held, covering an exhibition area of more than 130,000 square meters, Chen Chunjiang, head of the department of trade in services and commercial services at MOFCOM, said at a press conference in Beijing.

To date, 138 overseas institutions from 105 countries and regions have confirmed their participation, either online or in-person, in the forthcoming services trade fair, according to Yan Ligang, director of the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau. 

The CIFTIS has attracted participants from the world's top 30 services traders and involved 76 nations that have signed Belt and Road agreements with China, Yan disclosed, and 39 famed firms from both home and abroad including Amazon, Canon, NEC, Alibaba and BOE Technology have signed up for the CIFTIS's special exhibition zone for digital services.

Other than frequent CIFTIS participants including the Irish embassy in China, Japan External Trade Organization, and the Euro-Sino Enterprises Association, nearly 40 international organizations are set to join this year's trade fair for the first time, Sun Yao, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, revealed at the Tuesday conference.

In response to a question raised by the Global Times concerning the event's virus containment efforts, Sun said that a dynamic risk evaluation mechanism will be put in place with the involvement of anti-epidemic experts to make timely adjustments to virus prevention and containment measures, to ensure a safe event.

The official also pledged a push for vaccine inoculations, nucleic acid testing and health monitoring, among wide-ranging coronavirus safety precautions.

Unlike previous years, the forthcoming event will be held not only in the China National Convention Center, which neighbors the Bird's Nest and Water Cube, but in the Shougang Park in western Beijing. Its debut in the park is intended to host a range of special sub-exhibitions.

Global Times