Interview: Upcoming services trade fair in China to focus on innovative topics in trade, says scholar

ISTANBUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- The upcoming China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will provide a solid platform to introduce some innovative projects to boost high-quality international trade, a Turkish scholar has said.

Selcuk Colakoglu, director of the Ankara-based Turkish Center for Asia-Pacific Studies, told Xinhua recently that the CIFTIS would help shape the future of several industries, including carbon neutrality, artificial intelligence (AI), and the metaverse.

"For sustainable development, green development has become very important, so the fair also focuses on green development for creating zero carbon emissions for productions in particular," Colakoglu said. "In that regard, the fair's main agenda on green development is also important to create more sustainable development in the global economy in general."

The CIFTIS is also expected to focus on new developments in AI and the metaverse and their integration into different sectors, Colakoglu said.

AI has become a major topic of economic activities as it has created many new creative fields for production or trade with increasing popularity, he said, adding that AI is a very timely focus of the fair in terms of the rising trend in the global economy.

The expert also said that China has made tremendous contributions to the post-pandemic recovery of the global economy and its development.

"Particularly, China has also been transforming to achieve a more high-tech capacity, more value-added capacity production, and trade," he said.

"China is giving more importance in recent years to get more high-quality development focusing more on high-tech industries, green development, and more AI-related production," Colakoglu said.

These developments in the Chinese economy and their reflections on international trade suggest that the world will get more high-value trade in the coming years, he said.

This year, the CIFTIS, one of the world's largest and most comprehensive fairs for trade in services, is scheduled to take place in Beijing from Sept. 2 to 6.

With the theme "Openness leads development, cooperation creates a win-win future," the CIFTIS 2023 is expected to host 202 diverse events, including forums, negotiations, and summits.