China's commitment to high-level opening-up to promote global trade in services: experts

China's commitment to high-level opening-up will have a significant and far-reaching impact on promoting the development of global trade in services, experts from various countries have said.

When addressing the 2023 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) via video on Saturday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China will continue to promote high-standard opening-up, advance Chinese modernization on all fronts through high-quality development, and provide countries around the world with new opportunities for cooperation.

Paijit Wiboonthanasarn, vice chairman and secretary-general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce in China and former commercial counselor of the Thai Embassy in China, highlighted the importance of the development path driven by innovation.

"I think President Xi's speech is of far-reaching significance. To adhere to the high-level opening up and comprehensively promote Chinese modernization with high-quality development, the key point is to fortify the innovation-driven development path mentioned by President Xi in his speech, which will generate multi-dimensional linkages, for example, modernization in the field of agriculture, digitalization in the field of trade, and intelligent manufacturing in the industrial field. China has played an important role and has become a leader in these fields. It has also shared its successful experience with other countries and helped them develop their national economies," he said.

Elijah Mumba, a researcher of the Center for Trade Policy and Development in Zambia, emphasized the importance of the approach for developing nations.

"So, we are delighted with the speech and the openness that even developing countries can now take advantage of that trade openness and then we can begin to engage at a more global level," said Mumba.

Lukhanyo Vangqa, a news commentator based in Cape Town, South Africa, said China's approach exemplifies responsible leadership and promotes sustained global trade growth.

"We are encouraged that President Xi Jinping has spoken about opening up its economy and embracing global trade with the rest of the world. And that's something that responsible leaders really should do to drive continued global growth by opening up its economies, by sharing skills and expertise and by ensuring that global trade continues to grow for a more sustainable long-term future of the global economy," said Vangqa.

This year's CIFTIS is scheduled to run from Saturday to Wednesday, with the theme of "Opening up leads development, cooperation delivers the future."