"It's just started, but I'm very excited. There are people from different countries and there are also a lot of different products," Jay Kerekes, head of operations at Haikou Quanliang International Trading Co., told Science and Technology Daily (S&T Daily) on September 10, the first day of the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS).

Held in Beijing's Shougang Park, a transformed industrial area, this year's CIFTIS, as always, is a grand international gathering, with more than 80 countries and international organizations exhibiting or holding events.

First-timers and old hands

Dairy products from Australia, woolen clothes from Mongolia, hand-made iron kettles from Japan...numerous eye-catching products were on display in Hall 1. The lively music and singing from the Slovakia booth drew S&T Daily reporters' attention.

Kerekes from Slovakia said it was his first time at CIFTIS, calling it a great opportunity to promote his company's products as well as his country, learn the preferences of Chinese consumers, and get their response to the products.

"But most importantly, it's to build a bridge," he said. "Many people don't even know what Slovakia is, so this is a great opportunity to put our country on the map."

It was also the first time for Mandefro Shiferaw, minister counselor of the Ethiopian Embassy in Beijing, though the embassy has attended CIFTIS multiple times.

The main goal this year, he said, was to promote coffee from Ethiopia, the birthplace of the beverage. Today, Ethiopia is renowned for its high quality coffee such as Arabica, and China is the fifth largest importer of Ethiopian coffee.

Mikio Arai, head of a Japanese company selling hand-made iron kettles, was on his fourth mission at CIFTIS. He was a little worried the number of visitors would decrease due to the change in the venue, but the waves of people on the first day of the exhibition made him relieved. Arai said he wanted to introduce Japanese handicrafts to Chinese consumers, and would be very happy if the handicrafts were welcomed.

Creating new collaborations

Be it exhibitors, purchasers, visitors or conference attendees, the consensus was that cooperation was an indispensable part of CIFTIS.

Mohammad Miri, advisor to the CEO of Iran's Chabahar Free Zone on International Affairs and Foreign Investment Attraction, said CIFTIS was a very good platform for bringing different service sectors together to help each other enhance the economy.

Satoshi Ohashi, director of Zaha Hadid Architects China, said CIFTIS provides a platform for all the companies and industries to connect. It brought together different segments from the creative design industry, to the building engineering industry, and to the manufacturing industry. All the service and supply chain industries also came together. "Because of that, we're able to create new collaborations and new opportunities with these companies," he said.

Paulo Debiagi, an assistant professor at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, has been working in China for more than two years. He has collaborated with institutions like Tsinghua University, Harbin Institute of Technology and Northwestern Polytechnical University, and expected to promote networking at CIFTIS with people from different companies and research institutions, exchange ideas and reach a better understanding of future research directions.

At the 2025 E-commerce Convention, a parallel forum of CIFTIS, Dorothy Tembo, deputy executive director of the International Trade Center, said the center has been collaborating with China's Ministry of Commerce to build the capacity of policymakers in developing countries.

Hundreds of policymakers have come to China to learn how to regulate e-commerce, increase logistics efficiency, ensure consumer protection and develop rural e-commerce. "It's international collaborations like these that are making it possible to put more countries on the digital fast track," she said.