Xinhua Perspective | New Technologies, Trends, and Opportunities - Inventory of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services

On the 6th, the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services, with the theme of "Openness Leading Development, Cooperation and Win Win Future", came to an end.

From the National Convention Center to Shougang Park, comprehensive exhibitions and professional exhibitions complement each other, and forum exchanges and business negotiations are deeply integrated. Offline exhibitions and cloud exhibition halls promote each other, achieving fruitful results.

Since the upgrading and upgrading in 2020, the influence and attention of the China International Fair for Trade in Services have continued to expand, and the level of specialization and internationalization has significantly improved. This year's Fair for Trade in Services will continue to optimize the three major platform functions of expanding openness, deepening cooperation, and leading innovation, injecting new impetus into the development of the world economy.

On September 4th, the audience visited the exhibition area of the Beijing National Convention Center at the Fair for Trade in Services. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wu Wei

New Technology: From "Tasting the Fresh" at Exhibitions to "Commonly Used" in Life

From health to education, from finance to cultural tourism, service trade is closely related to our daily lives.

The reporter noticed that more and more companies are using the Fair for Trade in Services as a stage for new products and technologies to debut. As the world's largest comprehensive service trade exhibition, the Fair brings together first-class technology and applications, and has become a showcase for global service trade; At the same time, new technologies are constantly expanding new spaces for the development of service trade.

At the Service Trade Fair, numerous first-time products made stunning appearances. More than 60 enterprises and institutions have launched a batch of new products and technologies in fields such as artificial intelligence, financial technology, healthcare, and cultural creativity, leading the trend of industry innovation.

On September 4th, at the exhibition booth of Beijing Friendship Hospital in the Shougang Park of the China International Fair for Trade in Services, Tumai's single arm laparoscopic surgery robot tied knots with a surgical thread. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Yuwei

Generative artificial intelligence has become popular worldwide, reshaping various industries, and the field of service trade is no exception. Strolling through the exhibition hall, new products and applications inspired by AIGC can be seen everywhere.

The AI dubbing assistant, AI writing assistant, AI drawing assistant... The AIGC product matrix that AI companies go out to inquire about has attracted a large audience since its debut. From the "therapist" of patients, the "auxiliary therapist" of psychologists, to the "analyst" of user mental health information... The AI psychological service robot "Beixiaoliu" has been used in hospitals, schools, social institutions and other scenarios, constantly playing more roles.

Wu Tian, Vice President of Baidu Group, stated that artificial intelligence has become an important driving force for a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. He hopes that through comprehensive technological infrastructure construction, ecological construction, and collaborative mechanism construction, artificial intelligence will become closer to the industry and bring about comprehensive industrial upgrading.

The smart ward can achieve integrated bedside interaction, call warning, patient positioning, infusion monitoring and other functions; Through virtualization scenarios, people can handle business in bank halls without moving a single step; Wearing VR glasses, you can immerse yourself in Gulangyu Island, and even take off with just one click, overlooking the ground landscape from the air

The Fair for Trade in Services also plays an accelerating role in promoting the commercialization of technology. From "tasting" at exhibitions to "commonly used" in daily life, new technologies and applications in the field of service trade are accelerating their transition from display scenarios to real-life scenarios.

New trend: towards knowledge intensive development

As "Made in China" advances to "Made in China", "China Services" is also accelerating its transformation and upgrading. Knowledge intensive "Chinese services" characterized by digitization, intelligence, and greening are becoming a new driving force for the high-quality development of China's service trade.

A green, dual carbon smart relay station filmed on September 2nd at the National Stadium. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ren Chao

Shandong's excavators, Zhejiang's yoga clothes, Guangzhou's kitchenware... More and more export enterprises are leveraging trade digitization to achieve "selling from home to the world". Wang Tiantian, General Manager of China Suppliers and Cross border Supply Chain at Alibaba International Station, believes that with the support of new technologies, the digitalization process of global foreign trade will accelerate, and digital foreign trade will enter the true "second half".

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, the import and export volume of digitally deliverable services in China reached 2.51 trillion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 7.8%, ranking fifth in the world and reaching a new historical high in scale.

Wang Shouwen, International Trade Negotiator and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Commerce, pointed out that service trade is the most dynamic and important component of international trade. The trend of global economy's service-oriented and digitalization is becoming increasingly evident, and new business models such as digital services, remote services, and shared services are flourishing.

"By utilizing digital technology, previously non tradable services can be transformed into tradable services, further enhancing the scale of service trade." Zhu Fulin, Deputy Researcher at the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said that China's digital transformation of service trade has further improved the level of knowledge and technology in service trade.

During the conference, exhibitors actively embraced digitization, intelligence, and greenization, continuously expanding new momentum for high-quality development of service trade.

According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, the import and export volume of knowledge intensive services increased by 11.7% year-on-year in the first seven months of this year, accounting for 43.2% of the total import and export volume of services, an increase of 1.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year.

"The increasing proportion of knowledge intensive service trade indicates that China's service trade is moving towards the mid to high end of the value chain, and the structure of service trade is continuously optimized and upgraded," said Chen Jianwei, Associate Professor of the National Institute of Opening up at the University of International Business and Economics.

Li Jun, Director of the International Service Trade Research Institute of the International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, believes that we should seize the huge opportunities in the development of service trade, continuously expand new fields and formats, and accelerate the pace of moving towards becoming a strong country in service trade.

New Opportunity: Deep Integration of International Cooperation

As of 12:00 noon on the 6th, nearly 280000 people have participated in this year's Service Trade Fair, achieving more than 1100 achievements, further enhancing international participation and influence.

More than 80 countries and international organizations hold exhibitions and conferences in the name of governments or headquarters; Attracting over 500 Fortune Global 500 and industry leading enterprises, with an internationalization rate of over 20% for offline exhibitors... Developing service trade is not just about building a closed door, but the internationalization attribute of the Service Trade Fair is becoming increasingly prominent.

At this trade fair, guests at home and abroad focused on the discussion and exchange of cutting-edge hot topics such as trade facilitation in services, "the Belt and Road" cooperation, scientific and technological innovation, and new formats of culture and tourism, highlighting the positive desire of all parties to open up cooperation and share opportunities.

Expanding the global network of high standard free trade zones, opening up service sectors such as telecommunications, tourism, law, and vocational exams to the outside world, relaxing market access for the service industry, and orderly promoting the process of cross-border service trade opening up... A series of practical new measures have released clear signals of openness, which is also of great significance to service trade suppliers at home and abroad.

Wang Shouwen stated that the Ministry of Commerce will accelerate the implementation of the "Reference Document for Domestic Regulations on Service Trade" within the framework of the World Trade Organization, and will continue to innovate development mechanisms, optimize development environments, implement existing policy measures, and guide foreign investment to increase investment in modern services, energy conservation and environmental protection, and research and development innovation.

The attending guests reached a consensus that global digital service trade and green service trade are becoming important areas to promote the growth of service trade; The rapid recovery of the tourism market injects new vitality into economic growth; Countries should deepen cooperation in multiple fields of service trade and work together to promote global economic growth.

UN Coordinator in China, Chang Qide, stated that trade in services is a "bridgehead" and many stakeholders can benefit from it. In the future, more vitality should be injected into trade in services. Countries should further strengthen international cooperation and achieve symbiosis and mutual prosperity in a more standardized and fair service trade environment.