Trade surges with China's tech, openness

BEIJING — In Shougang Park, which was formerly an ironworks site in western Beijing, new technologies from AI to cloud computing and green innovation were on display amid the rusting blast furnaces and steel relics.

The 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services, featuring digital innovation and intelligent technologies, was held in the park from Wednesday to Sunday, gathering nearly 2,000 enterprises, including Global Fortune 500 companies and leading industrial enterprises, in search of new business opportunities in China.

Global exhibitors and executives are optimistic about the growth and future of China's international services trade, hailing the country's consistent policies to open up its services sector as a catalyst for global trade and shared growth.

Robust growth

For Philips, a Dutch medical technology leader with a four-decade presence in China, the fair reflects robust momentum in the country's healthcare sector. Returning to CIFTIS for the fifth consecutive year, Philips unveiled its latest magnetic resonance system, a breakthrough that shortens medical scanning times and boosts efficiency.

"The growing awareness of healthcare and the leap in medical technologies have fueled the sector's growth in China," said Yang Donglan, vice-president of Philips Greater China. "Every year at CIFTIS, we feel China's business environment becoming more open and inclusive, giving us the confidence to deepen our roots here."

Tourism company TUI China shares that optimism. The Germany-based firm sees inbound travel gaining fresh momentum.

Technology has been a boost to tourism, said TUI China CEO Guido Brettschneider, adding that modern technologies — ranging from translation tools that enable tour guides to communicate in multiple languages to mobile payment options like Alipay and WeChat Pay for overseas visitors — have reduced barriers and enhanced traveler satisfaction.

The numbers bear this out. From January to July, China's total services trade reached 4.58 trillion yuan ($642.7 billion), up 8.2 percent year-on-year. Tourism, a pillar of this growth, totaled 1.26 trillion yuan, surging 10.4 percent, according to a report from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce in early September.

The growth is attracting more foreign partners. Australia, this year's guest country of honor at CIFTIS, sent its largest-ever delegation of nearly 60 organizations and companies.

On the event's opening day, Australia signed 15 agreements with Chinese partners in sectors including education, healthcare, finance and culture.

"China remains a market of tremendous potential in the service sector," said Dominic Trindade, commercial minister at the Australian Embassy in Beijing. "Australia is committed to the Chinese market and our service providers are ready to develop new partnerships here."

Tech power

At the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China booth, a humanoid robot greeted visitors, offering a glimpse into the future of banking.

Already deployed in several branches, the artificial intelligence assistant can answer questions and explain banking services — an emblem of this year's CIFTIS theme: "Embrace Intelligent Technologies, Empower Trade in Services".

Digital innovation is becoming the backbone of China's services sector economy. In the first seven months, knowledge-intensive services — including AI, digital finance and professional consulting — rose 6.8 percent to 1.78 trillion yuan, said the commerce ministry report.

For Zaha Hadid Architects, a British architecture and design firm, the tech boom is transforming the construction services industry.

Digital tools are adopted throughout the construction process, from design to fabrication, enabling factories to precisely execute the design, which enhances accuracy and quality control, said Satoshi Ohashi, director of Zaha Hadid Architects.

China has built an incredible manufacturing base, and now it has grown and developed into an innovation powerhouse, said Ohashi. "I think that's the power and potential of the Chinese economy."

The view is echoed by Henning Kristoffersen, commercial counselor of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, who noted that China's technological advancements are helping foreign firms raise efficiency and sharpen competitiveness.

By shifting from traditional industries to high-value-added sectors, China is enhancing its capacity to deliver high-quality and innovative services to its international partners, said Dale Pinto, president and chair of the board of CPA Australia. "This transition is opening new avenues for global cooperation of mutual benefit."

Policy openness

The rapid expansion of China's services sector comes amid its consistent commitment to opening up and win-win cooperation.

Amid a notable rise in unilateralism and protectionism, China has steadily advanced institutional opening-up in trade in services, which has provided strong momentum for its own development and created greater room for global economic growth, said Chinese Vice-Premier Ding Xuexiang during a keynote speech at the event.

Ding reiterated China's commitment to working with all countries and parties to strengthen opening-up and cooperation in services trade.

This commitment is tangible for foreign firms like Philips.

A more open and inclusive business environment in China offers more pragmatic opportunities for the company's development, encouraging it to further strengthen its operations here, said VP Yang.

Global scholars have hailed China's opening-up as a strong driver for an open world economy and inclusive growth.

China's efforts to advance high-standard opening-up bring opportunities for shared development and prosperity to countries of the Global South, while improving the global governance system, said Mutinda Mutisya, a senior lecturer at the Department of Diplomacy and International Studies of the University of Nairobi.

Steps taken by Chinese policymakers have created a platform for equal participation by its partners, including emerging economies, said Tolonbek Abdyrov, a professor of economics and vice-rector of the International Higher School of Medicine in Kyrgyzstan, adding that China's advocacy for equal rights to development for all countries sends a clear and positive message.

CIFTIS and China's commitment to openness provide a much-needed boost to global trade, strained by tariff hikes, said Herman Tiu Laurel, president of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute, a Manila-based think tank. "CIFTIS will help sustain and improve the momentum of global trade and growth."

Xinhua