The three-day 2022 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Fair for Trade in Services concluded in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, on Dec. 24.
With an exhibition area of 25,000 square meters, the fair consisted of three sections showcasing urban development, digital trade, and life services, respectively.
During the event, there were one major symposium and seven parallel forums on digital trade, cross-border e-commerce, smart manufacturing, traditional Chinese medicine services, and service outsourcing, among others.
Huang Zhihao, mayor of Zhuhai, said that Zhuhai's total trade in services continues to grow steadily and is becoming a new engine for the development of Zhuhai's foreign trade and a new driving force for the deepening of its opening up.
The city will actively build a high-quality business environment, deepen the reform of its science and technology systems, and constantly improve its industrial layout, Huang said.
Yi Xiaozhun, former deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, said in his speech that digital technology has blurred the boundaries of traditional goods and services, and digital trade is becoming a "new driving force" for the growth of global trade in services. He added that the development of trade in services calls for market opening.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has a mature mechanism for coordinated economic development and a sound foundation. With Hong Kong’s advanced financial industry and Macao’s developed service industry, the Greater Bay Area enjoys a bright prospect of modern industrial integration, financial innovation, and service industry transformation, Yi said.