Cutting through an overload of information to get to the heart of the story.
This is the point.
The 12th Chan International Fair for trade in services opens on Wednesday in Beijing.
Now, since the first addition in 2012,
the fair has grown into a global stage
for showcasing new trends and technologies in the services sector.
It now stands as a microcosm of China's push for openness and high-quality growth and a window into how China's trade in services is gaining momentum.
What can we expect during this year's fair?
What does this focus on the services sector reveal about the direction of China's economy and what impact may this have on China and its global trading partners.
Welcome to a special edition of The Point, with me, Lucien, coming to you from Beijing.
I'm pleased to be joined from Berlin, Germany by Andreas Hube,
managing director of the German Federal Association for Economic Development,
Foreign Trade and co-founder of China Bridge, a non-partisan dialogue platform.
From Rome, Italy by Ivan Cardillo, chairman of the Italy-China Business Development Forum,
a strategic bilateral corporation platform from Los Angeles by William Lee chief economist and executive director at the Milken Institute an American think tank and last but not least from Beijing by Joe me deputy director at the Institute of American and Oceania study of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Corporation gentlemen the warmest welcome to all of you.
Let me go to Mr. Joe first First, of course,
some numbers to give people the big picture of China's total size in terms of services trade.
Now, last year, China's total trade and services reached US$1 trillion for the first time.
That's up by 14% year on year.
And also, in the first half of this year, 2025,