The five-day 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) entered its third day on Friday in Beijing with a continued rollout of new product and service launches, drawing plenty of interest from international buyers.
Among the highlights of the fair is a new exhibition area in the health and hygiene section that draws attention to the frontiers of medical technology, bringing in eight innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. In addition, an agricultural socialized services section made its debut, showcasing agricultural service innovations that have potential for wider applications.
On the day, 37 companies and institutions are set to release 81 new achievements. The continuous stream of innovations and the opportunity to connect with the people making the breakthroughs have kept foreign delegations returning to CITFIS year after year.
"Not only to reconnect with some of their existing partners, customers, but it's an opportunity to find some more people. All of the tremendous developments that we've seen in China, including in the digital economy, in the ways services are delivered, and these are providing tremendous opportunities for Australian businesses to both expand their existing business and look for new opportunities," said Dominic Trindade, general manager for the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Austrade, fully known as the Australian Trade and Investment Commission.
"I've done 30,000 miles on China's railway, so I've seen the true breadth of China. This is my fourth year at CIFTIS. This year, we've brought a fantastic delegation of 20 companies across higher education, professional standards, [and others]," said Lewis Neal, British trade commissioner for China.
Also on Friday, the fair featured four thematic forums, 13 specialized forums and 38 promotional events. Notably, the 2026 Xiong'an Digital Trade Innovation and Development Conference is CIFTIS' only thematic forum held outside of Beijing, during which the Xiong'an data exchange will be officially unveiled.
According to attendees, the growing openness of CIFTIS has continued to showcase China's vibrant innovation ecosystem to the world.
"I believe what makes one of the important things that China offers to the world is that, if you think about a business or anything that is actually a new creation, it is a scalability laboratory. There's also a very vivid environment to be able to create opportunities in those areas," said Andre Queme, managing director of the Latam China Tech, a business consulting and services provider.
"In China, first of all, what is impressive is the incredible speed of the high-tech development. And with the high-tech development comes also increase of the service offerings. The upgrade in China, it's on the consumption side, it's on the technology side, it's on the production side, it's in every aspect. We are super impressed by the whole ecosystem in China," said Henning Kristoffersen, commercial counselor at the Norwegian Embassy in China.
Global service traders seek "tremendous opportunities" among new innovations at CIFTIS
