Digital and Intelligent Innovations Take Center Stage at CIFTIS 2026

Par Wang Donghui, Qi Zhiming, Xiao Fei, People's Daily

The 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) officially opened on September 9 at Beijing's Shougang Park. This year's event brings together exhibitors from more than 90 countries and international organizations, with over 1,800 companies exhibiting on-site, including over 400 Fortune Global 500 firms and industry leaders. A prominent theme across all exhibition areas is the integration of digital and intelligent technologies.

AI Makes Services Smarter

At the booth of Chinese online local services provider Meituan, visitors can see how large models and AI agents are being applied in consumption, merchant operations, and on-demand delivery.

"Help me choose a restaurant near Shougang Park with a rating of 4.5 or above and an average spending of around 100 yuan ($14.91) per person," a People's Daily reporter told Xiaotuan, an AI assistant in the Meituan app. Within two seconds, a detailed list featuring restaurant ratings and recommended dishes appeared on the screen.

According to a Meituan employee, the platform's AI agent can account for factors such as time, location, budget, companions, and personal preferences. Combined with merchants' service offerings, operating conditions, and reviews, it delivers personalized recommendations. Covering 12 categories of local services, the Xiaotuan AI assistant has responded to over 700 million user requests to date.

In the education services exhibition area, many visitors stopped to try out products from Feixiang Xingqiu, an education technology company and subsidiary of Beijing Yuanli Education Science and Technology Co., Ltd. The company showcased three foundational large models designed for basic education.

After a staff member described a teaching need aloud, "Feixiang Teacher 3.0" completed the task and instantly generated an educational application called "English Adventure Island," complete with a course map and a series of challenges that allow students to learn independently in a gamified environment.

Technology Makes Industries Smarter

Innovations in physical AI were among the highlights of the fair. The booth of Lightwheel.ai, a physical AI infrastructure company based in Beijing, drew a steady stream of technology enthusiasts.

Visitors put on first-person-view headbands, while their full-body movements were captured in real time and turned into "training material" for robots to learn from. Over the past three months, the company has provided services to more than 30 leading large-model companies.

"This is a 'continuous learning system' built for robots, helping them evolve from being able to 'see and talk' to being able to 'do and act,'" a staff member said.

In the road freight sector, FOR-U Smart Freight, a Chinese technology-enabled platform specializing in truckload transportation, showcased an AI agent that assists dispatchers with order assignment, truck sourcing, and shipment tracking, enabling seamless human-machine collaboration.

Dispatchers simply describe their requirements by voice or text, and the AI agent analyzes them within milliseconds, generating standardized instructions for locating a truck. During transit, it can also provide round-the-clock route tracking and alerts for abnormalities.

Openness and Cooperation Broaden Horizons for Innovation

"This model is so lifelike," exclaimed a visitor upon seeing a 3D model of Lin Chong, a hero from the classic Chinese novel Water Margin, depicting the iconic scene "Lin Chong Takes Refuge in the Snowbound Mountain God Temple," at the booth of Chinese network technology company Shumei Wanwu (Beijing) Network Technology Co., Ltd.

On a nearby computer, the company's "Hi3D" AI-powered 3D creation platform was demonstrating how a 2D image of Lin Chong could be transformed into a 3D model. By entering text or an image, users can generate a high-definition 3D model in five to ten minutes. After fine-tuning details and adapting the model for printing, they can export it and produce a physical replica.

Ren Lifeng, the company's founder and CEO, said the platform can generate 3D models from images and videos, significantly lowering the barrier to 3D modeling and improving efficiency.

The product is now used in a wide range of applications, including industrial design, cultural tourism, museums, trendy toys, creative products, gaming, and film and television production. It has also entered markets in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and Germany, amassing more than 1 million users.

Innovation Extends to Quality Consumption

Norway, this year's guest of honor at CIFTIS, has set up a national pavilion covering about 260 square meters at Shougang Park. Inside, the signature glass bottles of Norwegian bottled water brand VOSS stand out under the lights, drawing many visitors.

By leveraging a digital supply chain and targeted marketing, VOSS has maintained double-digit growth in its business in China, providing a vivid example of China-Norway economic and trade cooperation and the upgrading of quality consumption.

At this year's CIFTIS, more than 90 companies and institutions unveiled new achievements, while over 200 new products and solutions made their debuts. These new technologies, products, and solutions are making life, study, and work more convenient and efficient, while bringing greater digitalization and intelligence to the services sector.

An increasing number of "China services" are reaching global markets from CIFTIS, putting into practice the fair's vision of "Global Services, Shared Prosperity."