CIFTIS highlights in Beijing. Photos: Li Hao/GT

From September 12 to 16, the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is being held in Beijing. 

In a congratulatory letter, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out that CIFTIS, having been successfully held for 10 years, is a vivid illustration of the high-quality development of China's service industry and service trade, making positive contributions to the building of an open world economy. As the largest comprehensive exhibition in the global service trade field, this year's CIFTIS continues to be highly attractive. In total, 85 countries and international organizations have set up exhibitions and more than 450 Fortune Global 500 and industry leading companies have participated offline, making it a bridge for all parties to share development opportunities, promote industrial growth, and strengthen communication and exchanges.

Trading "tangible goods" is called trade in goods, while trading those invisible products or services is usually categorized as trade in services. The WTO divides trade in services into 12 major areas, including tourism and travel-related services, business services, transportation services, construction and related engineering services, and financial services. From the perspective of world trends, the importance of trade in services has become increasingly prominent. According to WTO statistics, global service exports grew at an average annual rate of 4.9 percent from 2013 to 2023, approximately twice the growth rate of goods exports, and the proportion made up by services trade in total trade in goods and services increased to a quarter. China is a big manufacturing country. Moving toward becoming a strong manufacturing country and expanding high-level opening-up to the outside world cannot be achieved without a strong modern service industry.

China has a high position in promoting the development of the service industry. It does not do it behind closed doors, but is instead committed to promoting the in-depth cooperative development of global trade in services and service industry and making progress together with the world. Since its establishment, the CIFTIS has attracted more than 900,000 participants from 197 countries and regions, and established itself as a global brand. The much-anticipated and widely welcomed CIFTIS has refuted those who believe that the attractiveness of the Chinese market has declined. During this year's CIFTIS, hundreds of activities will be held and more than 200 integrated innovation results will be released. Fortune Global 500 and industry leading companies such as Siemens, Google, Amazon, and GE HealthCare will actively participate in the conference, and "old friends" of CIFTIS such as Philips and Tesla have chosen to "debut" their cutting-edge innovative products at CIFTIS, which demonstrates that these companies still attach great importance to the Chinese market, and China's opening-up has brought new opportunities to foreign enterprises. Meanwhile, the momentum of China's economic recovery has not changed, and the rising willingness for international cooperation is even clearer.

We have observed that although global economic growth has slowed and trade protectionism and trade friction have increased, the process of digitalization, intelligence, and greening of China's service trade has been accelerating, and the attractiveness of opening up the service industry remains strong. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the value-added of China's service industry grew by 4.6 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2024, and service industry accounted for 56.7 percent of the country's GDP. The scale of service trade reached a record high for the same period, with total service imports and exports reaching 3.6 trillion yuan, an increase of 14 percent year-on-year. The level and scale of service trade are continuously improving and expanding, showing an "acceleration" of China's openness to the world. Globally popular phenomena this year, such as "China Travel" and "Black Myth: Wukong," are closely linked to the openness and progress of China's modern service industry.

The measures China has taken to promote the development of its service trade are steady. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee explicitly urged the country to "innovate and upgrade trade in services"; the General Office of the State Council has unveiled a set of guidelines to promote high-quality development of trade in services with high-standard opening-up; the Ministry of Commerce rolled out national and pilot free trade zone versions of negative lists for cross-border trade in services; pilot programs to expand opening in the medical field were launched, allowing foreign-funded hospitals to be established in Beijing, Tianjin, and other regions; and the number of comprehensive pilot cities for expanding the opening-up of the service industry increased to 11, with over 1,300 pilot measures introduced across 13 sectors including technology, telecommunications, culture, tourism, and finance. Through these measures, the world can recognize China's willingness and determination to promote development through openness and achieve mutual benefits through openness.

Judging from the impressions of this year's CIFTIS, the enthusiasm of old friends has not diminished, new friends have come in droves, and the CIFTIS "circle of friends" continues to expand. This is also an epitome of China's high-level opening-up to the outside world and a reflection of deepening economic globalization. From developed countries to developing countries, from international giants to small- and medium-sized enterprises, everyone has brought more updated achievements, technologies and applications to CIFTIS to fully demonstrate their attractiveness. What resonates with the attractiveness of the large platform of CIFTIS and the big Chinese market behind it is the mutual fondness between exhibitors from all over the world and the Chinese market.