Experts: Trade in services thrives on cooperation

Global cooperation plays a vital role in securing the development of the global services trade, officials and experts said during a forum of the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing on Thursday.

Jiang Zengwei, president of the Global Alliance for Trade in Services, said: "On the one hand, digital technology is empowering trade in services, making it develop rapidly and grow into an important engine of global economy and trade development. On the other, due to the dual effects of objective resource constraints and subjective rule deficiencies, the breadth and depth of developing economies' participation in services trade are seriously insufficient."

"Geopolitical tensions and the prevalence of trade protectionism have led to global market fragmentation and industrial chain fragmentation, weakening the stability of the world trading system," Jiang said, adding that the existence of the digital divide greatly restricts the possibility and reality of developing countries, small and medium-sized enterprises, and women's equal participation in services trade.

"All of this is exacerbating the uncertainty, instability and imbalance in the development of global services trade, leading to an increasing risk of trade imbalance and even posing a threat to regional security and world peace."

During the forum, the Ministry of Commerce launched a work guidance to support Beijing's pilot implementation of the World Trade Organization's E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative. The work guidance was created by five departments including the ministry and the Cyberspace Administration of China.

It aims to promote the implementation of JSI, the first global digital trade rule reached by the WTO by the end of 2024, in China as soon as possible. Beijing, as the only pilot in the country, will be the first to pilot this agreement.

The pilot implementation of the JSI in Beijing will lay the foundation for its implementation in the whole country, and is conducive to demonstrating China's determination to expand high-standard openness to the international community and providing useful reference for other countries, experts said.

Sheng Qiuping, vice-minister of commerce, said: "Services trade is the most dynamic component of international trade. In recent years, global demand for services has continued to increase, and the rapid development and widespread use of digital technology and artificial intelligence have boldly expanded the boundaries of trade, promoting a large number of new formats and models. China's trade in services has marched into a high-development stage.

"In the future, together with other countries, we will deepen the opening and cooperation of services trade, and jointly build an innovative and inclusive open world economy."