2026-09-10
25 分钟Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Round Table.
You're tuned in to Round Table.
I'm Steve Hatherly today with Fei Fei and Yushan.
Coming up, the most interesting things at the China International Fair for Trade in Services this year
might not be inside the venue at all.
It's out in Beijing's western districts, new waterfronts, new routes, new ways to get around,
and behind all of that is AI, digital platforms, health care tech, the whole stack.
And it kind of makes you think, this isn't really a pitch to companies anymore, is it?
It's a pitch to the rest of us.
The question is if we're buying it or not.
When people hear the title, China International Fair for Trade in Services, or CIFTIS,
they may imagine a conventional business exhibition filled with corporate booths
and government officials and industry professionals, and that of course would be fair.
But the 2026 edition is trying to tell a much bigger story.
This year's CIFTIS is not simply about companies selling services to other companies.
It's increasingly becoming a showcase of how technologies such as AI and robotics and digital platforms
and smart finance and intelligent health care are changing the way that businesses operate,
and also increasingly the way ordinary people experience a city.
At the same time, the event is being integrated into the transformation of Beijing's western districts