Major fair in Beijing champions resilience, enhances cooperation

Warm autumn sunlight fell across Shougang Park, a former steel mill site in western Beijing. In two days, the park will welcome delegates from around the world as the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services gets underway.

The fair comes at a time when global growth is under pressure, as higher tariffs and mounting protectionism weigh on goods trade. Trade in services, by contrast, has shown greater resilience, with digitalization and the green transition opening new avenues for cross-border business and providing fresh impetus to the world economy.

The growth in China's services trade reflects the expanding global footprint and rising competitiveness of Chinese service providers, as more companies tap overseas markets and forge cross-border partnerships.

In an interview, Li Hongyu, general manager of Beijing-based radiotherapy equipment maker LinaTech, said CIFTIS had helped the company forge international partnerships and expand its global presence.

Li pointed to the company's flagship VenusX medical linear accelerator, which received US FDA clearance in 2024 and has since been exported to eight countries. One became the first Chinese-made medical linear accelerator to enter clinical use in the United States, while another was the first such system installed in Africa.

"China's services trade is moving up the value chain, as companies increasingly compete overseas on the strength of their technology, solutions and standards," Li said.

The growing overseas reach of companies such as LinaTech is being underpinned not only by technological strength, but also by deeper institutional opening-up. Beijing has been at the forefront of that push.

"Multinational companies should capitalize on CIFTIS to deepen business ties and bring more high-quality products and services to Beijing and the broader Chinese market," said Yin Li, secretary of the Communist Party of China Beijing Municipal Committee.

Beijing has also moved to facilitate cross-border data flows. Tang Wenhong, vice-mayor of Beijing, said at a news conference in late August that the city had extended the application of its negative list for cross-border data transfers from the pilot free trade zone to the entire city, covering nine sectors including medical devices.

Beijing is also piloting wider opening in value-added telecommunications and biotechnology, Tang added.

This push for wider opening-up is equally attractive to overseas businesses looking to deepen their presence in China. Norway's participation as this year's guest country of honor at CIFTIS offers a case in point.

The Norwegian national pavilion will showcase the country's strengths in green energy, digital technology, healthy home products and high-end nutrition.

Wu Haifeng, Falkor's senior vice-president, told me he saw the five-day fair as an opportunity to foster closer cooperation between Chinese and Norwegian companies in industrial intelligence.

"We look forward to a successful CIFTIS 2026 and to joining forces with partners worldwide to deepen cooperation in services," Wu said.