2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services opens at Beijing’s Shougang Park

Summary

The 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) opened on 9 September at Shougang Park in Beijing, with visitors and exhibitors spread across a series of themed exhibition areas. At the education services exhibition, visitors toured the stands. At the sports services exhibition, they tried laser shooting and virtual shooting games.

The culture and tourism services exhibition and the services consumption exhibition also drew crowds. On the display side, exhibitors showed a robot designed for people with disabilities, one stand featured mechanical hands, and the sports services exhibition included robot dogs. Internationally, the Peru stand and the Iran, Pakistan and Bulgaria pavilions all received visitors, with staff at the Iranian pavilion introducing exhibits to those attending.

The Australian pavilion held its opening ceremony on 9 September, and exhibitors from Taiwan also took part in this year's fair. CIFTIS signage and display boards were installed around the Shougang Park site. Xinhua reporters Li Xin, Zhang Chenlin, Ma Ping and Pan Xu, along with Xinhua photographer Bi Shanghong, reported from the opening day.

Commentary

The 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services opened on 9 September at Shougang Park in Beijing, with themed exhibitions covering education, sport, culture and tourism, and services consumption. Together they map where demand in China's services market is concentrated, while exhibits such as disability-assistance robots, mechanical hands and robot dogs point to the direction of travel in service automation and digitalisation. CIFTIS sits alongside the Canton Fair and the China International Import Expo as one of China's three flagship trade shows, and it functions as a marker of where services trade liberalisation is heading.

China is already among the world's largest importers of services. For New Zealand small and medium-sized firms, education exports, tourism services and professional services are traditional strengths, but the mix is narrow and competition from Australia and others is intense. On market opportunity, the laser shooting and virtual shooting experiences at the sports services exhibition show that Chinese consumers want interactive, technology-driven sporting experiences.

New Zealand has mature solutions in sports technology, outdoor education and performance analysis, and smaller firms can use CIFTIS to connect with Chinese sports venues, education providers or local government procurement teams. The culture and tourism exhibition sends a similar signal: outbound travel and high-end experience spending in China are recovering, and New Zealand operators in bespoke travel and study-tour provision can pursue partnerships with travel agencies or online travel platforms. The services consumption exhibition, which touches on digital services and health and aged care, aligns with New Zealand's strengths in health technology and aged-care services.

On competition and risk, the Australian pavilion held its opening ceremony on day one, underlining how actively Australia is competing for the Chinese market in education and tourism services. The presence of Pakistan, Iran, Bulgaria and others shows China's services market is drawing a diverse global supplier base, and New Zealand cannot rely on brand recognition alone. At the same time, the density of Chinese-made service robots and mechanical hands suggests some standardised services will be automated away.

Firms offering only generic advice or basic intermediary services may find themselves at a disadvantage on price and efficiency, and will need to shift towards high-trust, highly customised models. For New Zealand SMEs planning to expand into China, the priority is to watch the negative list for cross-border trade in services and the direction of digital trade rules released during CIFTIS, and to use NZTE's online matchmaking services, entering first through technology licensing or remote delivery to keep costs down. China's sectoral list for services trade opening continues to widen, but data localisation and mutual recognition of qualifications remain practical barriers.

Completing intellectual property protection and contract review in advance matters more than exhibiting on site. Australia has already held its pavilion opening ceremony, and New Zealand services exporters that do not settle a clear China strategy soon will cede the early advantage in regional competition.

Keywords: China International Fair for Trade in Services, CIFTIS, Beijing Shougang Park, trade in services, themed exhibitions, disability-assistance robot, Australian pavilion, Xinhua

Summary in Chinese | 摘要

2026年中国国际服务贸易交易会9月9日在北京首钢园开幕。展会设置多个专题展区：在教育服务专题展，观众到场参观；在体育服务专题展，观众体验激光射击和虚拟射击游戏；在文旅服务专题展和服务消费专题展，同样有观众参观体验。展品方面，参展商展示了助残机器人，一家参展商展位上展出了机械手，体育服务专题展还展出机器狗。

国际参展方面，秘鲁展位、伊朗展馆、巴基斯坦展馆、保加利亚展馆均迎来参观者，伊朗展馆工作人员向参观者介绍展品，澳大利亚展馆于9月9日举行开馆仪式，来自台湾的参展商也参加了本届服贸会。首钢园区内设置了服贸会展板与服贸会标识。新华社记者李欣、张晨霖、马平、潘旭以及新华社发（毕尚宏摄）对开幕当日情况进行了现场报道。

Commentary in Chinese | 评论

2026年中国国际服务贸易交易会9月9日在北京首钢园开幕，教育、体育、文旅、服务消费等专题展集中呈现了中国服务市场的需求热点，助残机器人、机械手、机器狗等展品则显示了服务自动化与数字化的趋势。作为与广交会、进博会并列的中国三大展会之一，服贸会反映服务贸易开放方向，而中国服务进口规模已居全球前列，对新西兰中小企业而言，教育出口、旅游服务、专业服务是传统强项，但结构单一且面临澳大利亚等国的激烈竞争。从市场机会看，体育服务展的激光射击和虚拟射击体验表明，中国消费者对互动式、科技驱动的体育体验需求上升。

新西兰在体育科技、户外教育、运动表现分析领域有成熟解决方案，中小型企业可通过服贸会平台对接中国体育场馆、教育机构或地方政府采购。文旅服务展同样释放信号：中国出境游和高端体验消费复苏，新西兰定制旅游、研学旅行供应商可挖掘与旅行社或OTA的合作机会。服务消费专题展则可能涉及数字服务、健康养老等，契合新西兰在健康科技和老年护理服务方面的优势。

从竞争与风险看，澳大利亚展馆开馆仪式在开幕日举行，突显其在教育、旅游服务领域争夺中国市场的主动性。巴基斯坦、伊朗、保加利亚等国参展也说明，中国服务市场正吸引全球多元化供应，新西兰不能仅依赖传统品牌认知。同时，中国本土服务机器人、机械手的集中展示，意味着部分标准化服务将被自动化替代，新西兰企业若仅提供普通咨询或简单中介服务，可能面临价格和效率劣势，需转向高信任、高定制的服务模式。

对于计划拓展中国市场的新西兰中小企业，建议关注服贸会期间发布的跨境服务贸易负面清单和数字贸易规则动向，并利用NZTE的线上对接服务，先以技术授权或远程服务降低进入成本。中国服务贸易开放的行业清单在扩大，但数据本地化、资格互认等仍是实际障碍，提前完成知识产权保护和合同审查比现场参展更重要。澳大利亚展馆已经举行开馆仪式，新西兰服务出口商如果不尽快明确中国战略，将在区域竞争中失去先手。

关键词: 中国国际服务贸易交易会, 服贸会, 北京首钢园, 服务贸易, 专题展, 助残机器人, 澳大利亚展馆, 新华社

Source: XinhuaNet