Share the opportunities of services trade and seek economic development

From September 12 to 16, the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services was held in Beijing, which attracted exhibitions from 85 countries and international organizations, and more than 450 Fortune 500 and industry leading enterprises to participate offline. Since its inception, the Service Trade Fair has attracted more than 600,000 exhibitors from 196 countries and regions, and has become an important platform for China to expand opening-up, deepen cooperation and lead innovation.

At present, the development of international trade is grim and complex, but the development of China’s service trade is steady and improving, and the structure of service trade continues to optimize, and increasingly becomes a key driving force for global economic growth. Data from China’s Ministry of Commerce show that in 2023, China’s total import and export volume of services reached a record high of 6,575.43 billion yuan, ranking among the highest in the world. Among them, the proportion of knowledge-intensive service trade increased to 41.4%, and the competitiveness and “gold content” of China’s service trade continued to improve, and the innovation vitality of the Chinese economy was significantly enhanced.

Digital technology continues to promote the content innovation and model change of service trade, and the service trade that can be digitized is developing rapidly. At present, global trade in services and cooperation in the service sector are developing in depth, digitalization, intellectualization and greening are accelerating, and new technologies, new business forms and models are emerging in an endless stream, injecting strong impetus into economic globalization, restoring global economic vitality and enhancing the resilience of world economic development. Michael Bolchmann, former director of the Department of European and International Affairs of the German state of Hesse and an expert on China, said that the Service Trade Conference is not only a bridge for global enterprises to communicate, but also a platform for innovative technologies, which will press the “accelerator button” for the development of global service trade and service industry cooperation. In this year’s service trade fair, hydrogen energy, batteries, electronic technology, digitalization and other related innovation display attracted the attention of many foreign enterprises. They believe that green transformation is closely related to everyone, and expect China to accelerate the process of digital, intelligent and green trade in services.

China’s service sector market is booming. In the first half of this year, China’s service imports reached 2.1 trillion yuan, up 16.4 percent year-on-year. China’s super-large market and continuously optimized industrial structure have brought huge business opportunities to enterprises from all over the world. Through this trade fair, the world has seen China’s determination to promote high-quality development of service trade with high-level opening-up, and has seen the vitality and huge opportunities of Chinese-style modernization. At present, China has launched more than 1,300 pilot measures in 13 industries including science and technology, telecommunications, cultural and tourism, and finance, sending a positive signal of linking the world and contributing to world economic growth.

Liu Qing, a reporter from China Global Television Network (CGTN)

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