The mascot FuYan for the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is seen at Shougang Park in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 13, 2023. The 2023 CIFTIS will be held at the China National Convention Center and Shougang Park in Beijing from Sept. 2 to Sept. 6. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

China's annual services trade fair is set to commence in early September in Beijing as previously planned, attesting to the world's second largest economy's push for high-quality growth and further opening-up, injecting impetus to the world's economy struggling to gain recovery momentum. 

The 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will be held at the China National Convention Center and Shougang Park - one of the competition venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, running from September 2 to 6, according to a press conference held on Sunday.

With an exhibition area of 155,000 square meters, the fair will welcome a total of 1,868 on-site exhibiting enterprises from 75 countries and regions and international organizations.

As the guest country of the CIFTIS this year, the UK will form the largest service trade exhibition group since its participation.

The event will set up nine topics covering telecommunications, computer and information services, financial services, cultural and tourism services, education services, sports services, supply chain and business services, engineering consulting and construction services, health and sanitation services, and environmental services.

The 2023 CIFTIS will also highlight smart services and achievements in innovation by displaying new technologies and applications in artificial intelligence, metaverse, industrial integration, green development and environmental protection, and other sectors, releasing a range of new technologies, reports and case studies.

The event will help further release China's confidence in unswervingly promoting high-level opening- up to the outside world, attract global resources and elements to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, and will help promote the recovery of the world economy by joining hands with other countries, Zhang Yi, deputy head of China Center of International Economic Exchanges, told the press conference.

Since 2012, the CIFTIS has attracted more than 600,000 exhibitors from 196 countries and regions and more than 600 overseas business associations and institutions participating, official data showed.

China has proved its influence in commodity trading and outbound investment over the past decades and the country is taking a shift toward a focus on services trade, and events such as the CIFTIS are a good channel in accelerating the shift, industry observers said.

In the first half of 2023, China's services trade has maintained a good momentum. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, the country's total services trade value in the first six months reached 3,135.84 billion yuan ($432 billion), an increase of 8.5 percent year-on-year, faster than the growth pace of commodity trade over the same period.

Data from Chinese customs authority showed that China's total goods imports and exports expanded 2.1 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year, reaching a record high of 20 trillion yuan.

The export of knowledge-intensive services has become a new bright spot in China's services trade sector. In the first half of the year, the import and export of knowledge-intensive services registered 1,363.92 billion yuan, up 12.3 percent on a yearly basis, accounting for 43.5 percent of the total services trade.

Global Times