BEIJING: People’s way of living has been turning increasingly digital, and the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating this transformation across the globe. Businesses and industry leaders worldwide will gather in Beijing on Thursday to attend the 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS). Digital services, the main focus of the six-day fair this year, are set to expand their cooperation through the creation of abundant opportunities. The leap-frogging digital growth in China in recent years has become a key driving force for high-quality development pursued by the country. China’s endeavors to achieve better growth will, on a global scale, be a boost for the world’s post-pandemic recovery that is seeing some positive signs.
With services trade being a pillar of China’s vibrant economic activities, China’s economic resilience will provide broad prospects for international cooperation amid the pandemic. China has effectively controlled the virus with stringent and persistent measures, including combating a recent surge of Delta cases in some parts of the country. The launch of the 2021 services fair in Beijing during the pandemic is proof of its successful handling of the virus.
The arduous battle has enabled the country to maintain growth in the pandemic-hit 2020 while other major countries have failed to do so, and score a 12.7-percent growth year-on-year in the first half of 2021. Trade in services has recorded a leap due to China’s push for high-level opening-up and all-round innovations since 2021 — the country’s imports and exports of services totaled 2.37 trillion yuan (365.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year, up 6.7 percent annually.
Digital services are experiencing a gradual shift from an alternative to a necessity, as traditional forms in the services sector, such as tourism and transport, have been dealt a hard blow by the raging pandemic. – Agencies
