CIFTIS 2026 Promotes High-Quality Service Trade
Beijing (ANTARA) - The China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) 2026 officially opened on Wednesday (9/9) in Beijing, coinciding with China’s intensifying efforts to expand openness in the services trade at the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
Running until 13 September at Shougang Park—a former industrial area that also served as a venue for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics—the exhibition attracts participants from 90 countries, regions, and international organisations, with more than 1,800 companies showcasing their products on-site.
Among the participants are 473 companies from the Fortune Global 500 list, alongside leading firms across various industries, including Honeywell, Johnson & Johnson, and Siemens.
Under the theme “Global Services, Shared Prosperity”, this year’s CIFTIS features the Global Services Trade Summit, organised for the first time in conjunction with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
A series of forums and business meeting activities will also be held throughout the exhibition.
During the summit, Zimbabwe’s Vice President Constantino Chiwenga stated that CIFTIS is expected to create numerous investment opportunities in fields such as conferences, exhibitions, infrastructure, and digital services. He added that the event would help Zimbabwe identify service trade opportunities, build export capacity, and attract credible partners in the technology, finance, tourism, education, and healthcare sectors.
Bulgaria’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Investment, and Industry, Alexander Poulev, stated at the summit that services trade is a vital pillar in China-Bulgaria relations.
“We want to see more Bulgarian products entering the Chinese market and more Bulgarian companies establishing long-term partnerships with Chinese firms,” he said.
More than 100 new products and services will be launched for the first time at the exhibition, covering various fields such as information and communications, financial technology (fintech), as well as healthcare and smart digital services.
Another highlight is a new area for overseas service expansion roadshows, offering integrated professional support for Chinese companies to enter foreign markets and expand China’s service footprint on the global stage.
The main exhibition area is also showcasing, for the first time, over 140 examples of innovation spanning all 12 categories of services trade, including artificial intelligence (AI), large language models, and intelligent agents, providing a glimpse into the future direction of China’s services sector.
China has recorded rapid growth in services trade, with strong exports of knowledge-intensive services supported by the country’s intellectual property and innovation ecosystem, stated WIPO Director General Daren Tang in a video speech at the summit.
Latest official data shows that in the first seven months of 2026, China’s total services trade reached nearly 4.45 trillion yuan (1 yuan = Rp2,625), an increase of 8.3 per cent year-on-year.
Promoting the development of high-quality services trade is a primary task in China’s 15th Five-Year Plan outline (2026-2030), which calls for more intensive efforts to optimise the management of the services trade negative list, loosen cross-border restrictions, encourage service exports, and foster knowledge-intensive services trade.