The 2021 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), themed "Towards Digital Future and Service Driven Development," is scheduled to kick off on Sept 2 at the China National Convention Center and Shougang Park in Beijing.

The health services thematic exhibition of the six-day event is expected to receive huge attention as the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The health services sector of the 2021 CIFTIS will include both online and offline activities, such as exhibitions and professional forums. It will showcase China's innovation capability in medical technology and services, innovation results of medical products, as well as the development of health services, with an aim to expand the opening-up of the Chinese health industry amid regular epidemic prevention and control, and build a sound situation featuring win-win results.

The thematic exhibition will include six sections of pandemic control, medical services, scientific innovation, traditional medicine, health of the seniors and international medical care services, covering innovative medicine, high-end medical apparatus and instruments, commercial health insurance and health services. Traditional Chinese medicine will also be showcased at the exhibition.

The thematic exhibition will promote science-based pandemic control and healthy lifestyles, so as to help the public improve their health literacy.

The health services thematic exhibition will be held at revenue E5 of the Shougang Park, covering a total exhibition area of 6,600 square meters. It has already attracted a number of medical institutions, renowned pharmaceutical companies and medical apparatus manufacturers, as well as insurance and nursing institutions.

By Aug 1, 52 enterprises and organizations have confirmed their participation, over half of which are industrial leaders or on the Fortune Global 500 list. Thirty-four percent of them are from overseas.

Telemedicine, 5G-enabled medical treatment, robot-assisted surgery and other frontier medical technologies are expected to be exhibited at the exhibition through videos and presentations. Besides, the latest technologies in the sphere will also be unveiled.

The exhibition will build an interactive area to bring better experiences to visitors. For instance, they can explore the mystery and fun of medical experiments through videos and audios in a mobile lab, and learn how to prevent AIDS, paediatric allergies, cerebrovascular diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, they will also be able to acquire information about epidemic prevention, first aid treatment, and chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, arthrophlogosis, and gout. Those who visit the interactive area will receive comics about medical science as gifts.

As of Aug 1, 93 percent of the exhibition areas of the 2021 CIFTIS had been booked, and 48 percent of the areas were booked by industrial leaders or Fortune Global 500 companies. Twenty-eight percent of the exhibitors are from overseas. A total of 165 overseas institutions and foreign institutions in China from 108 overseas countries and regions have confirmed their participation online or offline in the CIFTIS, including 81 Belt and Road countries. Among the world's top 30 countries and regions in service trade, 29 have said they would join the event except Norway.

The agenda of the 2021 CIFTIS will center on global hotspot issues including the digital economy, carbon neutrality and pandemic control. Alibaba, HP, Tencent and Pfizer have confirmed to launch new technologies, results and services at the event, covering carbon neutrality, internet of things, smart healthcare, financial technology, cyber security, AI and internet media.

Sun Yao, head of the Beijing Investment Promotion Service Center and deputy director of Beijing Municipal Commerce Bureau, introduced that apart from the China National Convention Center, the Shougang Park will be newly introduced as the venue of thematic exhibitions of the event.

The digital platform of the CIFTIS will be constantly optimized to offer regular exhibition, launching and negotiation services for merchants, Sun added.