On the afternoon of September 6, the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) came to a successful conclusion. Focusing on the annual theme of "Opening Up Leads Development, Cooperation Delivers the Future", this year's CIFTIS featured 155,000 square meters of exhibitions, 10 summit forums, 102 thematic forums, 18 side events, and 72 promotions and negotiations. Over 2,400 offline exhibitors and more than 6,700 online exhibitors participated. As of noon on the 6th, nearly 280,000 visitors had attended, resulting in more than 1,100 achievements, further enhancing international participation and influence.

During the 2023 CIFTIS, a total of ministerial-level guests and representatives from 42 countries and regions, as well as envoys from relevant countries in China, and representatives from international organizations attended the CIFTIS offline, with nearly 800 participants attending the conference on-site and 300 participating online.

Compared with previous years, 2023 CIFTIS saw increased international participation, with 83 countries and international organizations hosting exhibitions in the name of governments or headquarters, an increase of 12 from the previous year. Eight of these countries and international organizations hosted exhibitions for the first time, and the United Kingdom, the guest country of honor, assembled its largest-ever delegation since participating. Among the offline exhibitors, more than 20 percent were international companies, including more than 500 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry-leading enterprises, covering 28 of the top 30 countries and regions in service trade. The relationship with international friends has been further expanded.

During this year's CIFTIS, more than 100 forums and conferences were held, and more than 100 authoritative reports were released, such as "Annual Report on the Development of China's International Service Trade", "Digital Trade: Development and Cooperation (2023)", "World Tourism Cities Development Report (2022)", and "Chinese Pharmaceutical Enterprises Research and Development Index White Paper", leading the new trend and development of service trade. A total of 75 well-known enterprises and institutions released 139 achievements, with 66 of them unveiling 125 new products and technologies in the fields of artificial intelligence, fintech, medical and healthcare, culture and creativity, and a number of notable achievements such as digital maps of industrial belts and digital solutions for smart laboratories emerged.

A series of highlight events made significant impacts. At the signing ceremony of the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (also known as "Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships") held by the United Nations, 15 countries including Switzerland, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia signed as the first batch, with representatives from more than 30 countries attended the meeting, witnessing the signing. This international convention, named after a Chinese city, for the first time in the maritime field and the second named after Beijing since 2012, filled the gap in international rules on the international validity of judicial sale of ships and resolved the problem of cross-border recognition of judicial sale of ships.

"Invest in China Year" - The Promotion Conference on Greater Openness in the Services Sector provided an authoritative interpretation of China's policies for greater openness in fields such as intellectual property and released China's best practice cases of Integrated National Demonstration Zone for Opening up the Service Sector. Eleven pilot demonstration provinces and cities held discussions on 35 projects with domestic and foreign investors, releasing a strong signal of further opening up of the service sector to the world.

The lively atmosphere of negotiations during this year's CIFTIS also yielded a series of remarkable results. Nearly 80,000 professional visitors from central-owned enterprises, financial institutions, provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and specialized sectors were invited to the conference to negotiate deals. A total of more than 1,100 achievements in seven aspects, including transaction projects, investment, strategic agreements, authoritative releases, debut innovation and alliance platforms were achieved.