The ongoing 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing is helping link European expertise with China's innovation strengths, further strengthening bilateral cooperation, according to a European business leader.
During an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Gianni Di Giovanni, vice president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China, highlighted China's remarkable progress in developing its service economy, noting that Europe and China can pursue deeper cooperation in this sector through the CIFTIS.
"China is no longer only a manufacturer powerhouse; the service economy is becoming increasingly important. In 2025, services accounted for 57.7 percent of the Chinese GDP; it's a huge number that's companies with around two-thirds of the European economy and more than three-quarters of the U.S. economy. So there is clearly significant further growth, and European companies would like to be a part of this growth," said Giovanni.
"Europe has strong capacity in professional services, engineering, finance, logistics, healthcare, environmental services and decarbonization, very, very important. China, meanwhile, offers enormous scale of sophisticated customers and extraordinary capacity to apply new technology quickly. This is why I see CIFTIS as much more than exhibition; it is a platform where European expertise can meet Chinese scale and innovation," he said.
Giovanni also noted that China-Europe cooperation is shifting toward two-way investment, joint innovation and the development of solutions for global markets, particularly in energy transition.
"In fact, the relationship is already more two-way than we sometimes think, but we can go much further. Standards and certification are a good example. Greater interoperability between European and Chinese standards would give companies more certainty and make it easier to develop solutions that can operate across different markets. Energy is another very good example. As Chairman of Eni China, I see enormous potential in cooperation in the energy transition," he said.
"Europe brings technology and experience in areas such as biofuels, energy efficiency and industrial decarbonization. China brings extraordinary strength in manufacturing, engineering, supply chains and large-scale development. Put these strands together and we can create something much more powerful. So the more interesting question is: what can we recreate together? That means moving from one-way investment to two-way investment, from technology transfer to joint innovation, and from serving individual markets to developing solutions together for the global markets," he said.
The five-day event, which kicked off Wednesday, has attracted participants from 90 countries, regions and international organizations, showcasing over 1,800 companies and their innovative service products.
CIFTIS connects European expertise with Chinese innovation: European business leader
