Recently, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on the development of China's service trade and the progress of preparations for the 2024 Service Trade Fair. Assistant Minister of Commerce Tang Wenhong and Deputy Mayor of Beijing Sima Hong introduced the development of China's trade in services and the progress of preparations for the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services, and answered questions from reporters. It is reported that various exhibitions will highlight the characteristics of new quality productivity and service trade, which is one of the main features of this year's Service Trade Fair. According to Tang Wenhong, this year's Service Trade Fair will be held in Beijing from September 12th to 16th. It will continue to uphold the theme of "global service, mutual benefit and sharing", focus on achieving the "three improvements", and continue to create the most influential service trade event in the world, injecting new momentum into the development of the world economy. Firstly, to enhance the level of openness. This year's China International Fair for Trade in Services will focus on enhancing the role of an open platform and hosting a high-level Global Service Trade Summit. 800 Chinese and foreign guests will gather together to further consolidate consensus and seek common development; Holding a high-level comprehensive achievement exhibition, showcasing the latest achievements of high-level opening up and high-quality development of service trade; We have held over a hundred high-quality forums and conferences, released authoritative reports such as the "China Service Trade Development Report," and jointly explored new directions and paths for development with other countries. Secondly, improving the quality and efficiency of cooperation. This year's China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will have more than 80 countries and international organizations exhibiting and participating, with 13 countries and international organizations including Portugal and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) setting up independent offline exhibitions for the first time. France will serve as the guest of honor for the first time and will create a distinctive national pavilion around the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Sichuan and Hainan will serve as guest provinces for the first time and hold characteristic exhibitions and themed activities. At present, more than 420 Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders have confirmed their offline participation, and 37 local trading groups, central enterprise trading groups, and central financial trading groups have all been formed, which will comprehensively promote precise docking and are expected to achieve more practical results. Finally, we need to enhance innovation momentum. At this year's Trade in Services Fair, various exhibitions will highlight the characteristics of new quality productivity and service trade. They will focus on specialized new technologies and applications such as satellite Internet, big data and computing power, zero carbon and low carbon, and highlight the integrated development of industries enabled by productive service trade; Concentrate on showcasing new services and scenarios such as digital cultural tourism, smart education, and intelligent sports, highlighting the potential of stimulating service consumption through trade in lifestyle services. At the meeting, more than 100 companies and institutions including the United Nations Postal Administration and Philips will release their achievements, launching new technologies and achievements such as artificial intelligence orthopedic surgical robots and metaverse data reality fusion applications, leading the industry's innovation trend. In addition, according to Sima Hong, the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is the first large-scale international exhibition held by China after the Third Plenum of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It will continue to uphold the concept of "global service, mutual benefit and sharing", focus on "sharing smart services, and jointly promote open development", and form a multi-level activity framework system with the summit as the core, "exhibition display+negotiation and promotion+achievement release" as the main body, and supporting activities as supplements. The first is the Global Service Trade Summit, which will be held on the morning of September 12th as the "highlight" of the China International Fair for Trade in Services. Party and state leaders, foreign dignitaries, and heads of international organizations will be invited to attend and discuss cutting-edge issues and new trends in global service trade, consolidate consensus on global service cooperation, and jointly promote the prosperity and development of the service economy. The second is exhibition and display activities, including comprehensive exhibitions and thematic exhibitions. The comprehensive exhibition will be held at the National Convention Center, featuring achievement exhibitions, country exhibitions, provincial, municipal, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan exhibitions, as well as themed zones, with a focus on showcasing new achievements and trends in the development of service trade. The special exhibition is located in Shougang Park, continuing to set up 9 topics including telecommunications, computer and information services, financial services, cultural and tourism services, etc. It focuses on cultivating and developing new quality productive forces, leveraging the advantages of cluster and chain exhibition, integrating high-quality resources of service trade, and showcasing the latest achievements, technologies, and applications of digital, intelligent, and green development of service trade, creating the "first showcase" in the global service trade field. The third is to negotiate and promote, focusing on the development trend of service trade and the content of special exhibitions. 13 themed forums such as the Capital International Medical Conference, 89 forum meetings such as the Global Procurement and Enterprise Going Global Forum, 52 promotion activities such as the International Cooperation Project Promotion and Negotiation Conference, and 25 side events such as the Academician Roundtable will be held. Domestic and foreign associations, representatives of key enterprises, and experts and scholars will gather at the China International Fair for Trade in Services to exchange and discuss relevant standards and rules, promote development policies, advantageous areas, and cooperation projects. This year's Service Trade Fair has also established a mechanism for inviting buyers and promoting transaction cooperation, inviting more than 40000 professional visitors to participate in negotiations. At the same time, continuously optimizing the digital platform, adding more than 10 functions such as transaction matching, and effectively promoting investment and trade cooperation through exhibition linkage. The fourth is the release of achievements, with online and offline release halls set up to hold events such as initial releases, authoritative releases, and service demonstration case releases. More than 200 integrated innovation achievements will be released one after another, including the world's first artificial intelligence orthopedic surgical robot and the application of digital and intelligent technologies in medical and health, cultural tourism and other fields, providing the latest industry dynamics and development trends for exhibitors and attendees. The fifth is supporting activities, which will launch a variety of 10 supporting activities such as business inspections, investment promotion, and cultural experiences. There will be a Zhongguancun Science and Technology Tour, which represents the forefront of industry development, as well as an immersive tour of cultural and historical districts that showcase the characteristics of the capital, allowing exhibitors and attendees to experience the charm of the ancient capital, the capital, and Beijing from multiple perspectives. (New Society)