BEIJING, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Against the backdrop of repurposed blast furnaces and industrial relics of Shougang Park in western Beijing, the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) opened on Wednesday, striking a tone of open markets and digital innovation.

This year marks the first time the entire fair is being held at Shougang Park, a 3-square-kilometer industrial heritage site and a venue for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The theme, "Embrace Intelligent Technologies, Empower Trade in Services," underscores a focus that resonates far beyond China's borders.

The scale of this year's CIFTIS is vast, with 85 countries and international organizations -- including Australia, Germany and the World Intellectual Property Organization -- taking part. Nearly 2,000 companies are exhibiting on-site, including close to 500 Fortune Global 500 companies and industry-leading enterprises like Walmart, AstraZeneca and KPMG. The fair's participants, notably, come from 26 of the world's top 30 countries and regions in terms of services trade.

The transformation of the global economy, where services now form the backbone of growth, took center stage in speeches and discussions at the Global Trade in Services Summit, co-hosted on Wednesday by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), China's Ministry of Commerce and the Beijing municipal government.

"Services are no longer a supporting actor in global commerce. They are a driver of growth," said Johanna Hill, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO). She highlighted that the sector accounts for two-thirds of the global economy, half of worldwide employment and 40 percent of trade flows in value-added terms.

Echoing Hill's comments, Pedro Manuel Moreno, deputy secretary-general of UNCTAD, called services "the center of global economic transformation." He shared striking figures -- services exports have grown twice as fast as goods exports over the past decade, rising from 22 percent of world exports in 2014 to 27 percent in 2024. They also attract over half of all global foreign direct investment.

China leveraged the platform to reaffirm its commitment to opening up. In his keynote speech, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang noted that the country's services trade scale "broke new ground in 2024, exceeding 1 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time." He linked this to China's institutional opening of its services sector, including the rollout of a nationwide negative list for cross-border services trade, expanded market access in telecoms and healthcare, facilitated services trade and visa-free policies.

Official data showed that the total value of China's services trade climbed 8 percent year on year to 3.9 trillion yuan (about 548.82 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2025 -- hitting a historic record.

China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao emphasized how the host venue, Shougang Park, blends industrial heritage with the Winter Olympics legacy to promote interaction between exhibitions, conferences, business, tourism, culture and sports.

The role of international collaboration proved a recurring topic on the opening day.

Australia is the guest country of honor at the 2025 CIFTIS. "It's an important platform for us to build links between Australian and Chinese businesses," said Scott Dewar, Australian ambassador to China. He highlighted the presence of 60 Australian companies at the 2025 edition of this fair -- spanning sectors like education, tourism, finance, healthcare, architecture and food and beverages.

This sentiment was shared on the ground. "Australia and China have had a long collaboration in the education sector, which is a key area of the services trade," said Christopher Hogg, global business development manager at Chisholm Institute of TAFE, a provider of vocational training and higher education in Australia.

Henning Kristoffersen, commercial counselor of the Norwegian Embassy in Beijing, attending this event for a third time, pointed to concrete business opportunities. "Chinese consumers are very health-conscious. And for the products that we have in Norway, this is great," he said, mentioning Omega-3 supplements and fish oil as examples. "Our companies have a great chance to showcase their products and meet potential Chinese partners."

More than a diplomatic and business gathering, the fair is also a launchpad for innovation. A total of 113 companies will unveil 198 new products and achievements at the 2025 edition -- spanning the fields of artificial intelligence, healthcare and smart logistics, as well as the integrated development of business, tourism, culture, sports and wellness.

Alongside the core agenda of 13 themed forums, 82 special topic forums and 81 promotional business talks -- there will be over 40 supportive activities ranging from cultural performances and pop-up markets to sports events, aimed at boosting consumption and enhancing the fair experience.

"I'm encouraged by the content that we're about to see, including innovative technology and digitalization," said Crystal Edn, executive director of member services for the World Trade Centers Association, who is attending her first CIFTIS.

The event will run for five days until Sept. 14 -- with the first three days set aside for professional visitors and the last two open to the general public.