China’s international services trade is entering a new growth phase, driven by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. This momentum was on full display at the 2025 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), where exhibitors highlighted technologies designed to enhance both consumer experiences and industrial efficiency.
Among the most eye-catching innovations was a pair of AI-powered smart glasses capable of estimating the calorie content of food in real time. By simply looking at a dish, users can ask the built-in AI assistant for nutritional information and receive personalized dietary recommendations based on their health data.
“We’ve applied multimodal recognition technology to estimate the caloric content of food,” explained Wu Hainan, a representative from China Telecom. “It can also create customized health management plans based on users’ dietary habits. With the development of AI technology, it will create new growth drivers for the consumption of services.”
Industrial applications are advancing just as rapidly. At the Humanoid Robotics Data Training Center in Beijing, engineers are training robots to complete everyday tasks such as opening refrigerator doors, a deceptively complex action requiring nuanced bursts of force.
“Robots typically produce steady force, but opening a fridge requires a sudden burst,” said Yuan Jun, a center employee. “That’s why we train robots hundreds, even thousands of times, until they master the skill.”
The training process generates valuable real-time data that is increasingly becoming a tradable commodity. “The data generated for AI training is our final product for trade,” said Yuan Qinni, cooperation director at the center. “We produce nearly 10,000 data entries every day, and some of the data is delivered to our partners in North America.”
This growing demand for AI-driven services is backed by impressive sector-wide expansion. China’s AI industry has maintained annual growth rates above 20 percent in recent years. Earlier this year, the government announced its “AI+” initiative, aimed at encouraging the development of new service models. Emerging applications include virtual tour guides, intelligent medical assistants, and AI-powered learning companions, all of which are expected to become more widely available in the near future.
China’s integration of AI and robotics into services is positioning the country as a global hub for technology-enabled trade, with implications that stretch far beyond its borders. As innovation accelerates, the next wave of growth will likely come not just from the machines themselves, but from the data and services they generate, reshaping how international trade in services is conceived and consumed.