Norway participated in the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) which opened Wednesday in Beijing as the guest country of honor, bringing its largest-ever presence to the event.
Vebjorn Dysvik, Norway's Ambassador to China, said the rising number of Norwegian exhibitors reflects Norway's deepening confidence in China's services market.
"We are here for the 10th year in a row and we're very fortunate to be the guest country of honor this year. And I think and we're coming back with the biggest pavilion we've had and with the biggest number of companies we've ever had at CIFTIS. And I think the reason why we have both this ten-year record and now the record number of companies is that CIFTIS plays a very important role in promoting service trade between our countries. We have companies in a lot of important sectors to us, ocean and maritime industries, health and nutrition, green technology and green energy. But also this time people who work in art and design, which is new for the year," he said.
Running through September 13 at Shougang Park, a former industrial site and venue for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the fair has drawn participants from 90 countries, regions and international organizations, with over 1,800 companies exhibiting on-site. Among them are 473 Fortune Global 500 firms and other industry leaders.
Norway's pavilion highlights the complementarity of the two economies: Chinese new energy, digital and consumer technologies meet Norwegian strengths in maritime industries, aquaculture, renewables and high-end nutrition, according to Dysvik.
"This year's CIFTIS, we're going to showcase not just the fish itself, we're going to showcase how we make the fish. I think a very promising area of new cooperation could be aquaculture. Norway has lots of companies that partially deliver equipment and that will be in different exhibitions, but also services related to aquaculture production. So we are looking forward to much more cooperation in the sector in the years to come," he said.
Green transition expertise is another pillar. With over a century of experience in managing renewable energy, Norway sees room for cooperation with China in clean-energy services, he said.
"We also have a lot of green technology, green energy services that we have developed in Norway. We have 100 plus years of managing renewable energy. This is competence that we can export for other countries. I think maritime field and green technology and green energy are going to maybe the most promising areas for cooperation," said Dysvik.
Norway sees maritime, green services as key growth areas at CIFTIS: ambassador
