Deepening cooperation between Australia and China in the services trade was on full display at the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), according to Australian representatives at the event, which wrapped up Sunday.
Nearly 60 Australian institutions and companies participated in the four-day fair, marking their largest presence to date with a 360-square-meter exhibition space.
As the guest country of honor, Australia highlighted the crucial role that services play in enhancing bilateral relations.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, with Australian representatives describing the fair as an excellent opportunity to deepen cooperation.
"We don't talk about services in the same way that we talk about goods, things that we can touch and feel. Services are so important, especially things like financial services and architecture, things like technology services. These are all critical contributors to the closeness of the relationship between Australia and China," said Daniel Boyer, deputy CEO of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission.
"We are using this as a great platform to meet face to face with friends, to nurture old relationships, and to build new relationships with businesses as we move into the future," said Dale Pinto, President and Chair of the Board of CPA Australia.
"This is a former steel mill which probably used a lot of Australian iron ore in the past and now it's transformed into a center to showcase services economy. It's part of that transformation of the economy that China has made to move beyond heavy industry into higher level services, value-adds, and some of the more interesting and exciting aspects of the development of the services sector here. So that's a great opportunity for our participating businesses," said Dominic Trindade, Commercial Counsellor of the Australian Embassy in China.
Some Australian representatives highlighted sectors with significant potential for services cooperation with China, particularly education and healthcare.
"For a state like Queensland is the very, very strong complementarities that exist between our two economies. In many ways, Queensland has what China wants across resources, food and agriculture, education. We have a free trade agreement with China, and that's opened up a whole range of opportunities for business here, both in goods and services," said Rhett Miller, Chief Representative of Greater China, Trade and Investment Queensland under the Queensland Government.
"We are rethinking how we interact with China from an education perspective. We see that strengthening our relationship with the top Chinese universities and we also want to help the tier-two and tier-three universities in China to develop as well. So we see great opportunity in country in China for tertiary education," said David Lewis, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of University of Adelaide.
"One is medical and health. I think this China is growing rapidly in that area, and Australia has increased credible capability in the medical technology, the health services area. And the other area is on net zero. And both China and Australia need the same thing. Both China and Australia have particular expertise. It's time for us to marry that expertise and hopefully lead each other towards net zero. I consider that Australia and China will continue to be economically close," said Boyer.
The CIFTIS 2025, the world's largest comprehensive event of its kind, was held at Beijing's Shougang Park from Sept 10 to 14.
This year's event drew participants from more than 60 countries and over 20 international organizations. Fortune Global 500 companies, unicorns, and industry-leading companies unveiled 198 achievements in fields such as artificial intelligence, fintech, healthcare and green technology.
Among these, 109 were new product launches, featuring innovations in precision medicine, ultra-high-definition audiovisual technology, photonic quantum computers, and bionic cell sensors.
Australian representation at CIFTIS reflects deepening services cooperation with China
