Global service brands cash in on success of Beijing exhibit
The China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services, also known as CIFTIS or the Beijing Fair, has grown rapidly to help global service providers exhibit and launch their latest projects.
It has also helped the world's service companies trade more effectively and aided in Chinese service brands' missions to go global.
CIFTIS has, through its sheer scale and scope, become increasingly important as a negotiation and trade platform. It also affords enterprises opportunities to launch new concepts and facilitates communication and cooperation.
CIFTIS is now regarded as central to helping China's service industry go global. In an era increasingly dominated by service economies, CIFTIS has become both a leading platform for global trade in services and a corporate matchmaking event for individuals and corporations.
The event also emphasizes continuity and development. Even as the curtain was falling on this year's session, preparations and discussions for next year's event were already on the agenda.
Following the principles of "Innovation, Integration and Development", CIFTIS' organizing committee will invite related international organizations, countries with service trade features and countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes.
Representatives from China's pilot areas for service trade innovation and leading service trade enterprises will be invited.
The committee will work to ensure that the event continues to facilitate exchanges among the service sectors in different countries, consolidates international service trade cooperation and promotes the enhancement of global service value.
To ensure that the event is more effectively publicized, the organizing committee is working on plans to develop an online CIFTIS platform that will provide year-round service. It will also upgrade its official website and ensure that information is updated to improve efficiency.
In addition, it will step up domestic and foreign publicity campaigns through channels such as Facebook, Twitter, WeChat and microblogs.
This year's session held 122 forums, conferences and trade talks, provided an exhibition area of 50,000 square meters and attracted 171,000 visitors from 126 countries and regions, up 12 percent from the previous session. There were 3,740 enterprises registered for the fair.
Sixty overseas chambers of commerce and associations organized delegations for the fair, which was an increase of three times on last year. In addition, 331 agreements were signed at the event, with an intended contract value of $101.08 billion.
All these factors have made CIFTIS a barometer for the global service trade sector, a new engine for China's economic regeneration and a new stage for international cooperation. The event provides great impetus for the development of the service trade and is guiding the sector into a new era.
The fair has also promoted international exchanges and cooperation, and it has received ongoing support from a range of international organizations including the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In addition, a cooperation mechanism has been developed through which a global service trade summit can be held with one of the organizations at each annual session.
China Daily
(China Daily 09/06/2016 page24)
