2024 int'l services trade fair kicks off in Beijing

The five-day 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) kicked off simultaneously at the China National Convention Center (CNCC) in eastern Beijing and the Shougang Park in the western part of the capital city on Thursday, spotlighting the latest achievements and trends of trade in services.

The fair comprises a diverse range of activities, including summits, exhibitions, business negotiations and promotions, and achievement releases.

Earlier Thursday, the Global Trade in Services Summit opened, with 800 Chinese and foreign guests attending the event to discuss frontier issues and new trends in global service trade and to build consensus on global service cooperation, in efforts to promote prosperous development of the service economy.

At the same time, exhibitions at the CNCC and the Shougang Park both opened to visitors.

At the comprehensive exhibition area, the exhibitions for achievements of trade in services, country-specific exhibitions and thematic zones, have all opened, showcasing the latest applications empowered by cutting-edge digital technologies and highlighting new achievements and trends in the development of trade in services.

In separate interviews with China Global Television Network, foreign guests said the event is conducive to boosting global cooperation.

"I'm very much confident and happy to be here today to participate in this event with a lot of countries. This is our first exhibition in Beijing and we would like to hold more exhibitions like this. This is an opportunity for us to showcase our businesses and also to partner with potential investors for our future cooperation," said Babagana Wakil, charge d'affaires ad interim with the Nigerian Embassy in China.

"It is one of the most, one of the premiere events in the world. So we expect many good meetings, many good interactions, and this makes best use of this whole beautiful ecosystem. And we are hoping that people can attend these events, and make best use of them, get connections, do the networking, and be it service level, be it financial solutions, business consulting and all the different teams. And we also want to reach out to different provinces in China as well," said Ghulam Qadir, commercial counselor of the Embassy of Pakistan in China.

On Thursday, the Global Trade in Services Summit, the 2024 World Conference on Tourism Cooperation and Development and more than a dozen thematic forums focused on topics such as artificial intelligence, traditional Chinese medicine, and sports services will be held.

2024 int'l services trade fair kicks off in Beijing

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that his country has not sent hypersonic missiles to Yemen's Houthi group.

The president made the remarks at a press conference in Tehran, in response to a question from an Al Jazeera news network reporter who quoted political experts saying that Iran has supplied hypersonic missiles, or the technology to develop them, to the Houthis.

Iran has hypersonic missiles, but not of the same kind that the Houthis possess, Pezeshkian said, adding that the Houthis themselves had developed the missiles over time.

It is impossible for Iran to send missiles to Yemen covertly when it takes more than a week just to send solely human forces to the country, he said.

Pezeshkian said that Iran and the Houthis have worked together against Israel's "genocide" in Gaza, and stressed that the international community should condemn the crimes against humanity committed by Israel.

"If [the Western] countries are worried about the security of Israel, why are they not concerned about the security of Gaza Strip, the security of Palestine and innocent people? Civilized countries and supporters of human rights should not allow power to bomb and kill innocent civilians while simultaneously accusing Iran of supplying missiles to Yemen's Houthis," said Pezeshkian.

On Iran-U.S. relations, Pezeshkian emphasized Iran's pursuit of peace over conflict and clarified that Iran has no intentions of building nuclear weapons.

However, he said, the U.S. has chosen to abandon the Iran nuclear deal and made threats against Iran. The possibility of a relaxation in strained relations between the two sides hinges on the U.S. dropping its animosity towards Iran and revoking its extensive sanctions against the country, he said.

"We don't want to start a war, but the U.S. wants to impose wars on us. If the U.S. is willing to respect Iran's rights, we will not engage in conflict with the U.S. or any other party. We hope to develop safely in our own country without the U.S. undermining Iran's security or threaten and humiliate Iran. we will never accept humiliation," Pezeshkian said.

Iran has not sent hypersonic missiles to Yemen's Houthis: President Pezeshkian