From September 9 to 13, 2026, Beijing’s Shougang Park hosted the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), bringing together 413 exhibitors in the themed exhibition area for culture and tourism services. The fair showcased emerging models of cultural and tourism integration, allowing visitors to touch artificial snow, try VR devices, and view the Great Wall through immersive technology, as photographed by Xinhua reporters.
In a striking AI‑powered demonstration, Ms. Wang, a long‑time Peking Opera fan and first‑time visitor to the fair, tapped a screen and was instantly transformed into Mu Guiying, her favourite Peking Opera character. The experience was presented by the Jingju Theater Company of Beijing and highlighted how artificial intelligence can make once‑costly and time‑consuming opera costume photos and videos accessible to all.
Beyond the opera pavilion, CIFTIS featured humanoid robots offering bilingual explanations, brain‑computer interfaces that create digital paintings, and AI 360‑degree photo booths that generate blockbuster‑style videos in real time. These displays illustrate the broader trend of China upgrading its consumption from goods to experiences, a shift echoed by many exhibitors and visitors.
The fair’s new “China Services” exhibition zone showcased more than 140 cases across 12 major areas of services trade. Nearly 40 percent of the cases incorporated core technologies such as AI, large models and intelligent agents. The pavilion highlighted new business models, including age‑friendly solutions to bridge the digital divide and smart childcare platforms that provide integrated health management from birth through preschool.
Wang Min, president of the China General Chamber of Commerce, noted at a forum during the fair that people’s consumption focus has moved from goods to a balanced emphasis on both goods and services. He pointed out that digital technologies are spawning new business forms such as emotional consumption, immersive experiences and cross‑border services consumption.
Official data support this trend. In the first seven months of 2026, retail sales of services rose 5 percent year on year, outpacing retail sales of consumer goods by 3.9 percentage points. China’s per‑capita spending on services reached 13,602 yuan (about 2,009 U.S. dollars) in 2025, accounting for 46.1 percent of total per‑capita consumption expenditure. With rising disposable income and an improving domestic consumption environment, analysts expect further growth in service spending during the 15th Five‑Year Plan period (2026‑2030).
In April, the State Council issued a plan to elevate the total scale of the services industry to over 100 trillion yuan by 2030. In July, China released its first five‑year plan devoted exclusively to expanding consumption, prioritising service consumption with targeted support for elderly care, childcare, culture and tourism, health and sports services.
Li Jun, director of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce, said the services sector’s leap toward the 100‑trillion‑yuan mark represents a systemic upgrade in structure and growth drivers. He cited the popularity of the culture, tourism, education and sports exhibition areas at CIFTIS as a vivid illustration of this trend.
At the sports services pavilion, “China Hawk Eye,” a Chinese‑developed sports system, attracted professional fair visitors and sports fans. The system uses multiple high‑speed cameras to capture ball trajectories from different angles and reconstructs disputed moments into visualised 3D images, serving multiple international professional events.
The fair’s Global Trade in Services Summit highlighted China’s growing strength in services trade. In the first seven months of 2026, the country’s services trade totaled nearly 4.45 trillion yuan, up 8.3 percent year on year. Knowledge‑intensive services increased 6.6 percent to 1.96 trillion yuan, accounting for 44.1 percent of total services trade.
In a video address to the summit, World Intellectual Property Organization Director General Daren Tang praised China’s rapid growth in services trade, noting that the country’s strong exports of knowledge‑intensive services are supported by its intellectual property and innovation ecosystem. A report released at CIFTIS, “Trade in Services 100 2026,” by brand‑valuation consultancy Brand Finance, found that China ranks second globally with 21 brands in the world’s 100 most valuable trade‑in‑services brands, with a combined worth of 876.8 billion U.S. dollars. Alex Haigh, managing director of Brand Finance Asia Pacific, said that leveraging digital platforms, communications networks and large financial institutions helps Chinese trade‑in‑services brands rise rapidly, reflecting a new trend of extending “Made in China” to “China services” and “China brands.”
Zhao Ping, president of the Academy of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, called for further leveraging CIFTIS to promote trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation, noting that international services trade facilitation still faces barriers. The fair underscored China’s active promotion of services trade and its openness to creating more opportunities for countries and businesses worldwide.
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