Data from the Ministry of Commerce shows that in the first seven months of this year, knowledge-intensive service exports reached 1.025 trillion yuan, accounting for 51.31% of total service exports during the same period. As digitally tradable services enter a rapid development phase, how to prevent technology gaps from exacerbating trade imbalances has become a major discussion focus at the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS).
"In recent years, global service demand has continued to increase, and the rapid development and widespread application of digital technology and artificial intelligence (AI) have expanded trade boundaries and spawned numerous new business formats and models," said Sheng Qiuping, Vice Minister of Commerce, at the 2025 Global Service Trade Entrepreneurs Summit on September 11. Since 2012, China's service trade has maintained rapid development with an average annual growth rate of 6.7%. In 2024, total service trade exceeded the $1 trillion mark, ranking second globally in scale. Among these, digitally tradable services, namely knowledge-intensive service exports, reached $232.71 billion, accounting for over 50%.
Sheng Qiuping believes that AI's accelerated evolution is driving technological innovation, model innovation, and scenario innovation in service trade, providing solid support for the continued development of service trade.
Indeed, walking through this year's CIFTIS exhibition halls, more companies are discussing specific applications of AI technology in their respective industries - AI + sports, AI + education, AI + healthcare. Intangible services, relying on rapidly developing and iterating AI technology, have achieved tremendous expansion in tradable scope.
According to the World Trade Organization's first AI-themed report released at the end of last year, "Smart Trade - How Artificial Intelligence and Trade Activities Shape Each Other Bidirectionally," under an optimistic scenario of widespread AI adoption accompanied by high productivity growth by 2040, global real trade growth could increase by nearly 14 percentage points, with service trade growth rates approaching 18 percentage points.
"The current round of technological transformation is different from all previous ones, surpassing any historical technological evolution in both depth and breadth. The decisions we make will have profound impacts on generations to come," emphasized Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC). ITC's SME Competitiveness Outlook report released in July this year shows that among approximately 7,400 surveyed enterprises across nearly 80 countries, about 80% of companies reported sales growth and further cost reductions after adopting the latest digital technologies.
Similarly, Chinese think tanks and research institutions have also noticed this important development trend in the trade sector. The "Digital Trade Development and Cooperation Report 2025" jointly released by the Foreign Economic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology on September 11 suggests that small and medium-sized enterprises, with the help of AI tools, now have more convenient opportunities to participate in export business. Small manufacturers originally confined to local markets can now sell products globally through digital platforms.
The accelerated evolution of technological transformation brings more than just sales growth and cost reduction for enterprises - more importantly, it enables them to leverage AI technology for development planning and innovation capability enhancement.
However, Dorothy Tembo warns that not all enterprises can equally benefit from technological transformation. If digital intelligence technology is to truly become an engine driving service trade growth or inclusive development, it must ensure that all enterprises can achieve digital transformation. This means ensuring that enterprises have access to affordable and stable digital infrastructure, talent with digital skills, and a regulatory environment that supports innovation.
Long Guoqiang, Vice Director of the Development Research Center of the State Council, believes that rapid advances and applications of AI technology will open new blue oceans for future service trade development. The progression from digitization to intelligentization is an ongoing process. Currently, AI technology applications are still in their early stages, and business entities will continue exploring more application scenarios. This also means that future AI technology will drive service trade development from the supply side, demand side, and various intermediate links.
Long Guoqiang pointed out that new trends in service trade demonstrate the broad development prospects of service trade. In the future, it is necessary to follow these trends, grasp new opportunities, and promote high-quality development of service trade.