China Securities Journal | Xinhua News Agency | Economy

Beijing, August 14th (Xinhua) - The China Securities Journal published an article on August 14th titled "The Fair for Trade in Services Unleashes Confidence in Opening up to the Outside World and Jointly Promotes World Economic Recovery.". According to the article, on August 13th, a reporter from China Securities News learned from the "I'm Waiting for You at the Service Trade Fair" press conference of the 2023 China International Service Trade Fair that the 2023 Service Trade Fair will be held from September 2nd to 6th at the National Convention Center and Shougang Park. The annual theme is "Open Leading Development, Cooperation and Win Win the Future", with an exhibition size of approximately 155000 square meters, 9 special topics, and six categories of activities including the Global Service Trade Summit.

Zhang Yi, Deputy Director of the China Center for International Economic and Technological Exchange, stated at the press conference that hosting this year's Fair for Trade in Services is conducive to further unleashing China's unwavering confidence in promoting high-level opening-up to the outside world, attracting global resources and elements to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, and working together with other countries to promote world economic recovery and development.

The 2023 Service Trade Fair press conference and venue camping activities will be held in Beijing. Shen Jizhong

Four highlights

"This year's Fair for Trade in Services has four major highlights." Zhang Yi introduced that the first is to further highlight high-level activities and launch authoritative reports; Secondly, further highlight internationalization and leverage the role of expanding open platforms; Thirdly, further highlight specialization and strive to achieve high-performance results; The fourth is to further highlight marketization and promote the sustainable development of the Service Trade Fair, with 6 out of 9 special exhibitions achieving market-oriented operation.

"The preparation work for the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services is progressing steadily and efficiently according to plan," said Zhou Ling, Deputy Director of the Beijing International Center for Trade in Services. As of now, the recruitment has been basically completed, and more than 200 forums, conferences, promotion and negotiation activities are planned to be held.

In addition, Zhou Ling introduced that more than 70 well-known enterprises and institutions, including Schneider, Intel, Sanofi, Philips, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and PICC, will release signed cooperation results, industry development reports, and debut at this year's Service Trade Fair, including the Smart Archive Service Center, Digital RMB Prepaid Card, Industrial Belt Digital Map, a new digital twin platform, and the China International Cultural and Trade Development Report 2023.

Since 2012, the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) and its predecessor, the Beijing International Fair, have attracted over 600000 exhibitors from 196 countries and regions, as well as over 600 foreign associations and institutions from various countries and regions. Since the improvement and upgrading in 2020, the China International Fair for Trade in Services has reached a new level and has become the largest comprehensive exhibition in the global service trade field and an international public product for global services.

Creating the 3.0 version of Shougang Park Service Trade Fair

"This year is the third consecutive time that Shougang Park has hosted special exhibitions, forums, conferences, and other activities for the Service Trade Fair. We will provide better service guarantees with higher standards, higher requirements, and higher quality, and create the 3.0 version of the Shougang Park Service Trade Fair to comprehensively improve the convenience and comfort of participation." said He Fuming, Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Party Committee of Shougang Group Co., Ltd.

He Fuming said that the 3.0 version of the Shougang Park Service Trade Fair can be summarized as "three three three", namely three improvements, three optimizations, and three innovations. The three improvements refer to the improvement of green landscape, making the park more pleasant; Improved road traffic and more efficient passage; Improved supporting services and a more comfortable experience. Three optimizations refer to optimizing equipment and facilities for more efficient operation; Space optimization and more user-friendly layout; Configuration optimization ensures greater security. Three innovations, namely innovation, present a "blast furnace metaverse paradise"; Innovatively upgrading Hall 10; Innovate and build a smart operation center.

Zhou Yiwei, General Manager of Capital Exhibition Co., Ltd., introduced the participation of Capital Exhibition Group in the preparation of the Service Trade Fair.

He stated that the National Stadium will be opened for the first time in the National Convention Center area of this year's Fair for Trade in Services, and the venue planning will be further optimized. At the same time, more emphasis is placed on outdoor display experiences, and interactive projects are enriched. In addition, a normalized model of "online+offline" has been formed, and the digital platform has been further improved, providing protection for the "never-ending Service Trade Fair". In addition, efforts have been made to develop the "Fuyan" series of cultural and creative derivatives, introducing new licensed manufacturers and retailers, and a batch of derivatives will be concentrated on the market.

Service trade continues to maintain a growth trend

Service trade is an important component of international trade and has developed into an important field and indispensable force in building a new pattern of global common prosperity.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, China's total import and export of services in 2022 was 59802 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.9%. As of 2021, it has remained the second largest in the world for eight consecutive years.

In the first half of 2023, China's service trade continued to maintain a growth trend. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, the total import and export of services in China in the first half of the year was 3135.84 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.5%.

The export of knowledge intensive services has become a new highlight in the development of China's service trade. In the first half of the year, the import and export of knowledge intensive services reached 1363.92 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%, accounting for 43.5% of the total import and export of services, a year-on-year increase of 1.5 percentage points. Among them, the export of knowledge intensive services reached 792.34 billion yuan, an increase of 16%; Imports reached 571.58 billion yuan, an increase of 7.5%.

"In the first half of the year, the trade in knowledge intensive services continued to maintain a rapid growth, reflecting the momentum of continuous progress in the development of China's trade in services." Zhang Lei, a researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economics of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, said that the export of knowledge intensive services was closely linked to China's global value chain industry upgrading and the "the Belt and Road" development, and that the export of knowledge intensive services continued to grow faster than imports, which also led to the reduction of the trade deficit.

Experts believe that there is still significant development space for China in the field of service trade. Jing Ran, Director of the Department of International Trade at the School of International Economics and Trade at the University of International Business and Economics, and Project Leader of the Digital Trade Laboratory, said that based on the data from the past six years, from a global perspective, trade in goods is three to four times the total amount of trade in services. From the data in 2021, the ratio in China is 7.3 times, while in the United States it is 3.6 times. This also means that there is great potential for the development of China's service trade.