Photo taken on Sept. 1, 2020 shows a view of the outdoor exhibition area near the China National Convention Center, where the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) will be held, in the Beijing Olympic Park in Beijing, capital of China. The CIFTIS, a major platform for the services trade in the country, will be held in early September in Beijing. (Xinhua/Peng Ziyang)

China is scheduled to host a major international trade event on Friday, the first since the coronavirus outbreak blitzed global trade early this year, offering a much-needed free, open and multilateral approach in response to a global economic landscape that's been fractured by protectionist responses to numerous crises. 

The 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is to be held in Beijing from Friday to Wednesday, the nation's first major in-person gathering in the sphere of international economic and trade since the epidemic began. 

There will be many sub-forums in a range of areas including digital trade, financial services, tourism, 5G, and culture and sports, according to an agenda posted on the CIFTIS' website. 

International institutions, foreign governments, foreign business chambers and associations, and leading multinational corporations are among the event participants, according to a media briefing in late August on the preparatory work for the CIFTIS.

An array of new technological applications from over 50 companies and institutions including General Electric, Huawei, Qualcomm, Standard & Poor's, Baidu and iFlytek are expected to be unveiled during the event.

The event is set to showcase China's effective virus containment and its economic resilience, which could well be a template for other economies to follow when it comes to defending globalization while reining in the pandemic, said Li Jun, director of the Institute of International Trade in Services at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, a think tank under the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM).

The Chinese economy beat market estimates with a 3.2 percent expansion in the second quarter, reversing a contraction of 6.8 percent in the first quarter, official data showed. 

In a sign of a brisker rebound ahead, China surprised the markets with an increase of 10.4 percent in yuan-denominated merchandise exports in July. 

The fair will highlight Beijing's accelerated efforts to deregulate its services trade, Li told the Global Times on Wednesday, and the gathering will create "a global platform" for services providers to tap into what seems to be an increasingly important part of China's trade juggernaut. 

The nation's services exports shrank 2.2 percent year-on-year to 912.79 billion yuan ($133.78 billion) in the first half, while its imports of services were down 21.7 percent to 1.31 trillion yuan, according to MOFCOM data. 

The decline was mostly attributed to shrinking imports and exports of travel services during the period, as coronavirus lockdowns and social-distancing rules were implemented across the globe to restrict mobility. Both imports and exports of knowledge-intensive services, accounting for more than 40 percent of total services trade - such as financial services, telecoms, computers and information services - recorded a gain in the first six months. 

The nation's move to give overseas investors more access to financial services is a notable example of its staunch support for free services trade, setting it apart from a rising wave of protectionism, Li commented. 

In a fresh sign, Citibank (China) Co announced on Wednesday that it has received a domestic fund custody license from the nation's securities regulator, making it the first US bank to be granted such a license. 

With the license, Citi can build additional value-added services around custody, such as fund administration and other outsourcing services, Vicky Tsai, head of securities services for Citi China, told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

"In anticipation of an influx of global financial institutions setting up in China, where the aggregate scale of assets managed in mutual funds, wealth management products and other programs now reaches approximately $16 trillion, Citi has been investing heavily in its local custody, clearing and fund services capabilities," Tsai said, adding that the license enables the US bank to support its global clients in their custody needs as they enter one of the world's fastest-growing fund markets.