Despite a complex and severe external environment, China's services trade has resiliently sustained rapid growth, emerging as a highlight of its high-standard opening-up endeavors.

The total value of China's services trade climbed 12.9 percent year-on-year to nearly 6 trillion yuan ($828 billion) in 2022, retaining its rank of second globally for nine years in a row, said Chen Chunjiang, assistant minister of commerce.

Chen spoke on Monday at a news conference regarding the upcoming China International Fair for Trade in Services 2023 (2023 CIFTIS), taking place in Beijing from Sept 2 to 6.

Themed "openness leads development; cooperation creates a win-win future", the fair will be held at the China National Convention Center and Shougang Park. The two venues cover an exhibition area of 155,000 square meters.

"Efforts will be made to improve the functions of CIFTIS, making it the world's most influential fair for trade in services, injecting new impetus into the global economy," said Chen.

Fresh appeal

Having attracted over 600,000 exhibitors from 196 nations and regions since its launch in 2012, CIFTIS acts as an important platform for China to expand opening-up, deepen cooperation and guide innovation.

This year's CIFTIS features numerous overseas participants and abundant offline activities, playing a significant role in expanding international cooperation in services trade.

A total of 51 countries and 24 international organizations have confirmed their participation, said Sima Hong, vice-mayor of Beijing.

As of Sunday, over 500 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry-leading enterprises are poised to showcase their accomplishments, and over 2,200 enterprises are gearing up to participate in offline exhibitions.

The United Kingdom, the guest country of honor for the 2023 CIFTIS, will assemble its largest-ever delegation for the fair this year, Sima said.

The 2023 CIFTIS is expected to see over 200 events, including a global service trade summit, exhibitions, forums, business promotion conferences and supportive activities.

Over 60 enterprises and institutions will launch an array of new products and technologies at the 2023 CIFTIS, spanning the fields of artificial intelligence, financial technology, medical and healthcare and cultural creativity, injecting new vitality into the development of services trade, said Chen.

Robust growth

As China has deepened the opening-up of its services sector, it is expected that the scale of services trade will maintain growth throughout the year, and its trade structure will continue to optimize, said Chen.

China's services trade has witnessed improved quality and competitiveness, with knowledge-intensive services representing 43.5 percent of total services trade in the first half.

The digitalization of trade in services has been further accelerated. During the period, the country's digitally delivered services trade increased 12.3 percent year-on-year, 3.8 percentage points higher than the growth rate of total services trade, said Wang Dongtang, a senior official with the Ministry of Commerce.

The ministry will create a sound digital business environment, promote the digitalization of services outsourcing and build national digital services export bases with high standards, Wang added.

China's travel services trade has rebounded rapidly, Wang said, adding that the trade value grew 65.4 percent year-on-year to reach 650.94 billion yuan in the first half, becoming the fastest-growing area in services trade.

He noted that Chinese tourists have created huge benefits for the development of international tourism and boosted the growth of global trade and economic recovery.

The ministry will promote the introduction of negative lists for cross-border trade in services, upgrade the building of national demonstration zones for the innovative development of trade in services and cultivate new forms and models of services trade in more areas, said Chen.