Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addresses the Global Trade in Services Summit of the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) by video in Beijing, capital of China, September 10, 2025. Photo: VCG
The 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), now in its 12th edition, opened in Beijing on Wednesday, underscoring the world’s second-largest economy’s continued commitment to high-standard opening-up.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday sent a congratulatory letter to the 2025 CIFTIS.
Xi pointed out that nowadays, the world economic landscape is undergoing profound changes, and challenges and opportunities coexist in global development. China will remain firmly committed to expanding high-standard opening up, actively align with international high-standard economic and trade rules, accelerate the opening of its service market in an orderly manner on platforms including pilot free trade zones and national demonstration zones for the innovative development of trade in services, and promote high-quality development of service trade, according to Xinhua News Agency.
China is ready to work with all parties to jointly promote open and innovative cooperation in global trade in services, build an open world economy, and continuously inject new impetus into building a community with a shared future for humanity, Xi said.
The 2025 CIFTIS is “Embrace Intelligent Technologies, Empower Trade in Services.” The event, which runs through Sunday, is co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and Beijing Municipal Government.
Window of opportunities
The annual CIFTIS continues to create new opportunities for companies worldwide to actively engage in China’s vast services market, with this year’s event reaching a new high in international participation, according to the Beijing government.
Eighty-five countries and international organizations, including Australia, Germany, and the World Intellectual Property Organization, are taking part, with 25 of them setting up exhibitions in the themed section, the Global Times learned from the event organizers.
Participating countries span five continents. Nearly 2,000 companies are exhibiting onsite, including almost 500 Fortune Global 500 firms and industry leaders such as Walmart, AstraZeneca and KPMG. Exhibitors represent 26 of the world’s top 30 countries and regions in services trade, with an internationalization rate exceeding 20 percent, according to the event organizers.
Many participants shared with the Global Times on Wednesday about their excitement to be part of this grand international fair, which provides a window of opportunity for them to further tap into China’s market potential.
Derek Lambe, Economic Counsellor of the Irish Embassy in Beijing, told the Global Times at the event on Wednesday that they very much welcome that the Chinese economy is open, particularly in services.
Ireland is particularly strong in services such as education, tourism, health services and especially financial services, including banking and payments, fintech, and sustainable financing, said Lambe, noting that “all of these are areas where we see major opportunities in China.”
Ireland is one of the most open and globalized economies in the world, and its entire economy is heavily dependent on international trade, Lambe said, noting that “for that reason, we support international trade and a rules-based international trading system.”
Similar sentiments were shared by Henning Kristoffersen, commercial counsellor of the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, who was also at the fair on Wednesday. He told the Global Times that when they look at these companies participating at the fair, they have great access to the Chinese market. “So for us, we experience China as an open market, and we hope that China can continue to drive openness and drive the global trend,” said Kristoffersen, noting that coming from a small country, Norwegians depend on global trade, and they do not like protectionism, which is very bad for a small country. He extended his expectations for further tapping into the potential of the vast Chinese market.
This year marks the fifth consecutive year that KPMG China has participated in CIFTIS. At this year’s event, KPMG China released several new industry research reports for the first time, with artificial intelligence being one of its key focus areas, the Global Times learned from the company on Wednesday.
Honson To, chairman of KPMG China and the Asia-Pacific, said that in recent years, China’s trade in services has maintained strong growth momentum. In the cultivation and development of new quality productive forces such as cloud computing, big data, and artificial intelligence, the knowledge-intensive service trade has achieved encouraging results. As a window of China’s high-level opening-up, CIFTIS will continue to optimize the structure of service trade and inject strong resilience and vitality into China’s open economy, according to the company.
For KPMG China, CIFTIS is not only a window for China to showcase new products and services to the world, but is also a source of new ideas and trends, as well as a bridge for international cooperation, the company said.
CIFTIS is a vital platform for promoting trade, investment and global cooperation, Australia’s wine company Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) said in a written interview with the Global Times, noting that “CIFTIS also enables us to gain valuable insights into China’s evolving market trends and preferences. Our presence at CIFTIS underscores our commitment and confidence in China as a long-term growth opportunity for our business.”
Treasury Wine Estates signs MoU with Adelaide University to deepen China-Australia winemaker immersion program in Beijing on September 9, 2025, witnessed by the Australian Ambassador to China during CIFTIS. Photo: Courtesy of Austalian Trade and Investment Commission
Injecting stability
Since its inception in 2012, CIFTIS has been successfully held 11 times and has grown into the world’s largest comprehensive exhibition in the services trade sector, as well as an important window for China’s opening-up, China News Service reported. To date, it has attracted nearly 1.19 million participants and business visitors from 198 countries and regions for exhibitions, conferences, and business cooperation, according to media report.
CIFTIS has witnessed the open, innovative, and vigorous development of China’s service industry and services trade, according to Sheng Qiuping, Vice Minister of Commerce, at a recent press conference held by the State Council Information Office.
China’s services trade has shown steady growth. According to Sheng, in the first half of this year, China’s total services trade reached 3.9 trillion yuan, up 8 percent year-on-year, marking a record high for the same period.
Despite the multiple challenges facing the world today and the rise of unilateralism and protectionism, China continues to uphold an open-door policy, particularly by steadily expanding openness in the services trade sector, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of Forum 50 for Digital-Real Economies Integration, told the Global Times on Wednesday. He noted that hosting CIFTIS serves as another strong demonstration of this commitment while also injecting more stability and certainty into the world economic development.
“This fair in Beijing showcases China’s openness and development potential across a wide range of service industries, including finance, education, healthcare, tourism and logistics,” Hu said.
Moreover, the active participation of stakeholders from around the world reflects confidence in China’s economic prospects, the Chinese expert said, noting that “the facts demonstrate that cooperation and win-win outcomes remain the right path to achieving sustainable development.”