On the morning of September 2, 2023, President Xi Jinping delivered remarks at the Global Trade in Services Summit of the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing via video link.
Xi Jinping pointed out that the world today is experiencing accelerating changes unseen in a century and sluggish global economic recovery. Trade in services is a key component of international trade, and the service sector an important area for international economic and trade cooperation. Xi noted that the deepening global cooperation in trade in services and the services sector, the accelerated process of digital-driven, smart and green growth, and the ever-emerging new technologies, industries and business models have given strong impetus to advancing economic globalization, restoring global economic vitality and enhancing the resilience of world economic development.
Xi Jinping emphasized that this year marks the 45th anniversary of China's reform and opening up. China will stay committed to promoting high-standard opening up and advancing Chinese modernization on all fronts with high-quality development, thereby providing other countries with new opportunities for open cooperation. China is ready to work with all other countries and parties to advance inclusive development through the opening up of the services sector, promote connectivity and integration through services cooperation, cultivate growth drivers through innovation in services, and create a better future through shared services, so as to jointly bring the world economy on the track of sustained recovery.
China will strive to build a more open and inclusive environment for development. China will expand the globally-oriented network of high-standard free trade areas, actively engage in negotiations on the negative list for trade in services and investment, and open wider such services areas as telecommunications, tourism, law, and vocational examinations. China's national integrated demonstration zone for greater openness in the service sector as well as qualified pilot free trade zones and free trade port will be the first to align with high-standard international economic and trade rules. China will further widen market access in the service sector, open up cross-border trade in services in an orderly manner, make services trade more standardized, and steadily expand institutional opening up.
China will strengthen the bond of cooperation for mutual benefit and win-win results. China will increase synergy with other countries in development strategies and cooperation initiatives, deepen cooperation with Belt and Road partners in trade in services and digital trade, and facilitate cross-border flows of various resources and factors to cultivate more growth drivers for economic cooperation.
China will reinforce the path of innovation-driven development. China will foster new drivers for digitized services trade at a faster pace, promote pilot reforms of basic data system, and advance digital trade through reform and innovation. China will build a national voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction trading market,support a bigger role of the services sector in green development, and promote the integrated development of services trade with modern services industries, high-end manufacturing, and modern agriculture, to unleash more vitality for innovation.
China will share with other countries the achievements of Chinese modernization. China will work to expand domestic demand, move faster in building a strong domestic market, take the initiative to increase imports of quality services, and encourage more exports of knowledge-intensive services. The opportunities of China's massive market will provide new momentum for global development, and with high-quality development China will offer the world more and better Chinese services that will give people in the world a stronger sense of fulfillment.
In closing, Xi Jinping stressed that the world economy thrives in openness and withers in seclusion. He called on all parties to safeguard the hard-won free trade and multilateral trading system, share the historical opportunities embedded in the development of global trade in services, and work together for an even brighter future and greater prosperity of the world.
The 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services is held in Beijing from September 2 to 6, with the theme of "Opening up Leads Development, Cooperation Delivers the Future".