CIFTIS 2025: From trade fair to global 'rules lab'

Editor's note: Wang Peng, a special commentator on current affairs for CGTN, is an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, a big data business analyst and a senior network public opinion Analyst. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

This year's China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), ending today, marks a clear step up in both function and positioning, shifting from a traditional exhibition-and-trading platform to an "innovation lab" for setting global rules on trade in services.

The shift signals China's growing capacity to participate in global governance, and reflects how services trade is moving beyond physical showcases toward deeper engagement in rule-setting.

Themed "Embrace Intelligent Technologies, Empower Trade in Services," the 2025 CIFTIS has more than 70 countries and international organizations participating, with nearly 2,000 exhibitors, including over 500 Fortune Global 500 firms and leading enterprises across different sectors.

The fair highlights the role of digital intelligence, showcasing over 190 cutting-edge innovative achievements, including the debut of 3D-printed vascular stents and a thousand-bit photonic quantum computer. Through immersive and scenario-based presentations, such as demonstrations of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled biopharmaceutical workflows and 5G-powered smart living applications, CIFTIS is presenting the frontier of innovation and the momentum of development in the service trade sector.

According to the Digital Trade Development and Cooperation Report 2025, AI will have a transformative impact on digital trade across three dimensions: trade modalities, traded items and market participants. It will also catalyze a wave of rule-setting and updates in digital trade governance.

Platform upgrade with new focal point

Rule-setting has become the new focal point. Several policy documents were issued at the fair, including the "Guide on Trade in Services Data and Policies for Developing Countries." The "Chinese Cases in Standardization of Trade in Services" was launched along with a set of targeted action plans. The creation of an International Organization for Standardization Liaison Center is designed to help Chinese enterprises better align with global compliance requirements.

The rise of the knowledge economy is providing the underpinning for China to move beyond traditional labor-intensive service exports toward a new stage where technology and knowledge form the core competitive edge.

From January to July 2025, China's total imports and exports of services reached about 4.58 trillion yuan ($640 billion), up 8.2 percent year on year. Exports were up 15.3 percent and imports up 3.3 percent. Trade in knowledge-intensive services was around 1.77 trillion yuan ($248.6 billion), up 6.8 percent, while trade in telecommunications, computer and information services grew 12.6 percent.

Improvements in digital infrastructure and the accumulation of cutting-edge technologies are creating advantages in international trade.

From supply chains to service chains

China's trade in services is undergoing a major transition from traditional supply-chain management to the export of high-value-added service chains. This shift is being led by regionally-focused strategies, company-led innovation and industry-level collaboration.

Regionally-focused strategies are driving differentiated growth. The Qingdao exhibition zone with its four sections themed on digital trade, cultural trade, technology trade and green services trade exemplifies systematic transformation from manufacturing-driven to service-driven development. With 37 leading enterprises in service trade, the zone demonstrates how China is moving from strengths built on supply chains to new advantages anchored in high-value-added service chains.

Digital services are becoming the key to critical breakthroughs. For example, Extreme Vision, the creator of China's first AI-empowered computer vision algorithm marketplace, has already made more than 1,500 algorithms available, covering application scenarios across over 100 industries. The platform has drawn a global community of more than 400,000 developers and provided services to over 3,000 government agencies, enterprises and research institutions.  

The "platform + ecosystem" model it represents has become a new paradigm for China's digital service exports, delivering not just technology, but also standards and ecosystems. By enabling small and medium-sized enterprises worldwide to access AI efficiently and at low cost, it offers strong replicability and clear international competitiveness.

Green innovation is enhancing China's role in global standard-setting. Take the electric vehicle charging pile network operator TELD New Energy as an example. Its TCDZ-AC220/070 charger took just two hours and 19 minutes to charge a battery from 20 percent to 80 percent, which was 18 minutes faster than comparable products. Even at −8 degrees Celsius, its power output fell by only about 7 percent, significantly better than the industry average.  

In new energy services and related fields, Chinese companies are leveraging innovations in charging infrastructure and smart energy management to surpass performance benchmarks and help shape emerging international standards.  

Openness and shared benefits

CIFTIS is not just a platform for the exchange of ideas, it is also a driver for turning projects into reality, highlighting China's proactive role in market opening, governance innovation and global cooperation.

Cooperation has markedly improved. At this year's fair, the share of international exhibitors exceeded 20 percent, coming from 24 of the world's top 30 countries and regions in service trade. The number of partners increased to 14, spanning sectors such as finance, insurance, information technology and aviation.

Yet pressing governance challenges need to be addressed. According to the Digital Trade Development and Cooperation Report 2025, global digital service trade amounted to $4.64 trillion in 2024, an increase of 8.3 percent year on year. But regional disparities are widening: Europe and the United States remain the main exporters with strong growth, while Africa leads in growth rate but accounts for only 1 percent of the global total.  

Worldwide, there are now more than 100 unilateral data localization measures, two-thirds of which enforce the strict model of "local storage plus transfer ban." This greatly increases compliance costs for businesses and hampers innovation and cooperation.  

Through platforms like CIFTIS, China is advocating cross-border data flow mechanisms that balance security and development, putting forward constructive solutions for building a more open, inclusive and secure international digital trade environment.

China continue to deepen its institutional opening-up. It is improving the business environment and expanding areas of cooperation by shortening the negative list for cross-border trade in services and establishing demonstration platforms for comprehensive reform and opening-up.  

These measures send a clear signal of China's determination to pursue higher-standard opening-up, injecting new stability and growth momentum into global trade in services. Research shows that creating open and secure international data governance rules could raise global GDP by 1.7 percent.

By focusing on internationalization, digital intelligence, specialization and facilitation, CIFTIS demonstrates China's unwavering commitment to expand high-standard opening-up. It signals broader scope, wider coverage and deeper levels of China's opening to the outside world, while contributing confidence and strength to the stable development of global trade.

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