The 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) opened in Beijing on Saturday.

Themed "openness leads development, cooperation creates a win-win future," the fair takes place in the Chinese capital from September 2 to 6.

As the world's sole state-level and comprehensive fair with international reach dedicated to trade in services, the event has attracted more than 2,400 enterprises to participate in its offline exhibition, including over 500 global top 500 and industry-leading companies.

With an exhibition area spanning 155,000 square meters, the 2023 CIFTIS features a comprehensive exhibition along with nine thematic ones, covering industries ranging from culture and tourism, education and health to finance, environment, telecommunications, computing and information.

The exhibitors are from 59 countries and regions as well as 24 international organizations.

Bridge to win-win cooperation

Trade in services has become a new engine in China's high-quality economic development.

Last year, China's total value of services trade increased 12.9 percent year on year to nearly 6 trillion yuan (some $833.5 billion), ranking second in the world for the ninth consecutive year.

Participants said CIFTIS has become a significant platform for them to showcase new technologies, applications and services to the world, open up new opportunities in overseas markets and seek win-win cooperation.

At the booth of Qualcomm, the U.S. leading chip manufacturer, a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model that can fully run on Android smartphones is demonstrated. The model can swiftly understand users' needs from their narratives and create the images they want, all in 15 seconds, without access to the internet or cloud.

"Qualcomm is participating in the fair for the fourth straight year, and we value the platform and opportunities provided by it," Meng Pu, chairman of Qualcomm China, told Beijing Daily.

In the past three years, the company demonstrated the cooperative results with Chinese partners via the platform, and this year, it has brought the latest cooperation achievements in cutting-edge technologies such as 5G and virtual reality, said Meng.

Through CIFTIS, enterprises can exchange and share opportunities and dividends brought by the development of services trade, and jointly promote the recovery and development of the world economy, Yu Ying, head of KPMG China's government and public sector, told CMG.

"This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative. We will continue to support and serve Chinese enterprises in participating in global economic cooperation, and attract foreign enterprises to invest in China, playing a professional role as a two-way bridge and a global partner in economic development cooperation," said Yu.

Saudi Arabia's Ajlan & Bros Group, one of the largest private sector conglomerates in the Middle East region, is attending the fair for the second time.

The company has regarded the fair as a significant platform to meet new partners.

Mohammed Al Ajlan, deputy chairman of Ajlan & Bros Group, told CMG that the company aims to serve as a gateway to help Chinese companies enter Saudi Arabia as well as the Middle East and North Africa, adding that China is now able to transfer its expertise and experience in many fields to Saudi Arabia.

Activities on hot topics

The 2023 CIFTIS, with the aim of further improving the quality of communication and discussion, will feature more than 200 varied events including forums, negotiations and summits.

Among them are 10 summit forums on hot topics concerning open trade in services, cooperation and innovative development. Topics will cover services trade facilitation, intellectual property protection, and new forms of culture and tourism.

The forums will also bring together experts, scholars and leading enterprises to exchange opinions, share achievements and explore new paths for collaboration.

In addition, at this year's fair, over 60 enterprises and institutions will launch a slew of new products and technologies in AI, financial technology, medical health, and cultural and creative industries.

More than 100 authoritative reports will also be released during the event, including the 2023 report on China's services trade development, the report on world tourism city development in 2022, and the report on digital trade development and cooperation in 2023.