Trade fair vows to innovate to boost service sector

China’s largest service sector trade fair will continue to showcase the latest innovations in order to boost the sector, offering more diverse innovations to boost the sector, said Yan Ligang, director of the fair’s organizing committee.

"Beijing’s pilot program of opening-up the service sector has produced eight replicable institutional innovations and 10 new forms of business organization in finance, tourism, culture, healthcare, internet, information service," he said during an event to mark the 100-day countdown to the Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services, and the event is due to run from May 28 to June 1.

The fair is an expansion of the China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services, also known as CIFTIS.

"All the latest innovation achievements will be displayed during the event," Yan said.

Since it was first held in 2012, CIFTIS has evolved into a window for attendees to learn about China’s latest polices on opening up, as well as an important platform for entering the Chinese market and finding business partners.

The 50,000-square-meter exhibition area will lure visitors and exhibitors from countries and regions looking to cash in on the opening up of Beijing’s booming service sector, Yan added.

With a view to providing better service and content for international attendees and exhibitors, the upcoming edition of CIFTIS will showcase prominent business opportunities with good supportive policies and favorable conditions.

Adhering to the notion of promoting the service industry through the concepts of openness, innovation and integration, the latest edition of CIFTIS aims to promote new trade partnerships through business seminars, and demonstrate how enterprises can take advantage of Internet Plus and the mobile internet to encourage new modes of consumption in the service sector.

According to Yan, the added value of Beijing’s service industry reached 2 trillion yuan ($291 billion) last year, up by 7.1 percent on the previous year, accounting for more than 80 percent of Beijing’s local GDP. The total volume of service trade hit $145 billion in 2016.

Tu Zhitao, director of Beijing Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine said: "The spread of traditional Chinese medicine in the form of trade in service is an innovation. At the 2017 edition of CIFTIS, there will be more cooperation and communication about the forms of Chinese medicine education, cultural communication, and others aspects, with countries around the world." Tu added.

Referring to the ability of CIFTIS to spread the word about Chinese industries and specialties, Tu mentioned how then mayoral deputy of Cologne, Henriette Reker, became a firm fan of TCM after receiving a simple massage at the event in 2013. "I feel much better, TCM is like a secret," she told China Daily in a previous interview. She added that she intended to promote TCM in Cologne, which is a sister city of Beijing.

CIFTIS plays a central role in helping China’s service industry go global in a world increasingly dominated by service economies, and it has also become a leading platform for global trade in services, facilitating partnerships between Chinese and foreign enterprises.

Arunas Karlonas, Commercial counsellor of Lithuania to China, said that many new contacts can be made at the event, and this usually results in future collaboration and partnerships with Chinese enterprises.

"We hope that such cooperation will encourage the growth of scientific achievements in both China and Lithuania as well as enhance existing projects," he said.

Cao Yingying contributed to this story.