Ambassadors, other senior diplomats and global industry experts Thursday gathered at a forum on the sidelines of this year's China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) to map out the next frontier of the sports economy and explore emerging business opportunities in China.
The 2025 CIFTIS opened in Beijing Wednesday, under the theme of "Embrace Intelligent Technologies, Empower Trade in Services."
The five-day event features participation from over 70 countries and international organizations, with nearly 2,000 companies planning to exhibit in person, including close to 500 Fortune Global 500 and leading international businesses.
At the High-Quality Development Conference on Sports Event Economy on the sidelines of the CIFTIS, foreign officials shared their insights and perspectives on sports cooperation between their countries and China.
"Our cooperation with China in the sports (industry) has grown steadily. Now we also admire China's remarkable achievements in sports from its Olympics expenses to the rapid development of its sports industry. Looking ahead, the UK is committed to deepening our sports partnership with China. We see exciting opportunities in sports events, youth development, sports education, green and inclusive infrastructure, and joint innovation in digital sports technologies," said Geraldine McCafferty, deputy head of mission, the British Embassy in Beijing.
Dutch Ambassador to China Andre Haspels said that over the past decade, relations between the Netherlands and China have flourished and they have achieved fruitful outcomes in the sports industry.
"In the sports sector, the Netherlands and China have a longstanding cooperation and more specifically in ice skating, in indoor cycling, in football and in sports innovation," said Andre Haspels.
Wendy Harnan-Kajzer, deputy head of Inspectorate under the Sports Grounds Safety Authority in the United Kingdom (UK), said that China and Britain have much to exchange and learn from each other in the application of technology in the sports sector.
"From the experiences we've had in the UK, we've developed some different models for calculating the capacities of stadiums and for risk assessment approach to managing staffing and security approach. So I think we have some really interesting things to share there, and also their training and qualifications for staff working in the stadiums we can share with China. Now there are so many more features with artificial intelligence, facial recognition, and cameras that can count numbers of people in an area and so on. So this is all really useful. And the digital ticketing offers so many opportunities as well. And that's, I think, only just the beginning," she said.
Fair for trade in services forum underlines cooperation in sports with China
