A summit forum on trade facilitation in services from the perspective of multinationals was jointly held by the Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council and the Beijing Municipal Government during the 2022 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, on Sept 1.

With a theme of "Sharing Opportunities Created by the Development of Trade in Services and Promoting World Economic Recovery and Growth," the forum held in-depth interpretations and dialogues on such relevant topics as the facilitation of trade in services.

Yu Bin, Vice Minister and member of Party Leadership Group of DRC, Yin Yong, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, Marcos Troyjo, President of the New Development Bank, and Mara Warwick, World Bank Country Director for China and Mongolia, and Director for Korea, East Asia and Pacific, delivered keynote speeches at the forum.

Yu said that it is of great importance for the international community to conduct extensive and in-depth cooperation in the midst of the rising risk of stagflation confronting the global economy. Due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the operation of global supply chains has been continuously restricted, and the prices of major commodities have risen dramatically following a trend of high fluctuations. The problems of food, energy and resource security are being increasingly prominent, and the global economy faces downward pressure due to rising raw material prices, capital and security costs. The major western economies have grappled with inflation, which reached a 40-year high since the 1980s.

Yu said that in the face of common stagflation risk, no country can remain insulated and the international community should carry out extensive and in-depth cooperation, safeguard multilateralism, and jointly tide over difficulties through win-win cooperation.

The international community should join hands together in responding to global challenges and promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, so as to facilitate the recovery and growth of the global economy, Yu said.

Yu noted that the Chinese market of trade in services is promising and that it will become more resilient and show great potential in its future development with China's robust economic growth and expanded opening-up. The accelerated demand of Chinese enterprises and consumers for professional and high-level services will provide strong support and bring more development opportunities for multinational corporations in China. Meanwhile, the global consensus on digital, green and low-carbon transformation will also create greater space for cooperation between Chinese and foreign enterprises.

Yu stressed that China will elevate its trade in services facilitation to a higher level, adding that multinational corporations, serving as important bridges connecting China and global trade in services, are contributors to and beneficiaries of the cooperation on trade in services. China will open its doors wider to the outside world and create more opportunities to multinationals.

Wang Yiming, Vice-Chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and former vice minister of DRC, Qian Kun, Senior Vice-President of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and General-Manager of Qualcomm Technology Licensing (QTL) China, Robert Lewis, co-founder of China Going Global Thinktank, and Wang Yunfeng, Vice-Chairman, President and CEO of HSBC Bank (China) Ltd., gave speeches at the forum.

Bi Jiyao, Deputy Director of the Academy of Macroeconomic Research with National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Huang Zhi, President of S&P Global Inc. (China) and CEO of S&P Global Ratings, Liang Qindong, Vice-President of AECOM China, and Jiang Liqin, Board Director of KPMG China, held a strategic dialogue over the theme of the forum.

A report on effectively expanding and better meeting domestic demand led by consumption was released at the forum. Xia Jiechang, Vice-President of the National Academy of Economic Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), gave his insights on the report.

Nearly 200 people from central and regional authorities, China top think tanks, international organizations and institutions, as well as Fortune Global 500 companies, participated in the meeting.