In his congratulatory remarks at CIFTIS (China International Fair for Trade in Services), President Xi Jinping proposed “three initiatives”to the international community. This is a positive message to all the members of the international community, calling on them to join forces in hard times, strengthen opening-up measures and cooperation,and share the opportunities for development. This also injects strong impetus and positive energy into world economic recovery.

The world economy thrives in openness and withers in seclusion. China is reassuring the world of its continued confidence in opening up its market. Recent years have seen ever bigger and more solid strides taken by China in opening up the service sector:the Pilot Program of Innovative Development of Service Trade is expanded to 28 cities and new development areas; 26 openingup measures are introduced in key sectors such as education and medical, financial and professional services; the recently released 2020 Foreign Investment Negative List will greatly ease restriction on foreign investment in financial, infrastructural and transportation sectors; and a negative list for cross-border service trade will be released before the end of the year.

China shows the world that it is willing to take up its due responsibility to boost global recovery and growth by hosting CIFTIS, a comprehensive, national-level, international exhibition and trading platform with a global reach and dedicated to trade in services. CIFTIS enabled all participants to showcase their latest developments and breakthroughs in service trade and share in the new technologies and benefits of human progress.

Britain has a strong tradition in service trade, hence the huge potential and broad prospects for cooperation with China. At the CIFTIS, the UK was represented by more than a dozen British institutions, organizations and enterprises. I hope British business leaders have made good use of the CIFTIS platform by seizing this opportunity to engage in open cooperation and achieve mutual benefit. I look forward to joint efforts from China and the UK in deeper and more substantial cooperation so as to enable global trade in services to thrive and make the world a better and more prosperous place.

The author is Chinese ambassador to the UK.