To boost exchanges and cooperation with global partners in the service trade sector, the 2017 Global Service Trade Conference is to be launched in China in September, organizers said on Aug 15.

The conference, first of its kind in China, will be held in Nanjing, in eastern China’s Jiangsu province, from Sept 13 to 15. Forums will be held on various service sectors, including healthcare, culture and tourism .

The conference will be co-hosted by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation and the city government of Nanjing.

Li Gang, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, says that China’s service trade development is enjoying a golden era. In 2016, the import and export of China’s service trade totaled 5.35 trillion yuan ($799.77 billion), an increase of 14.2 percent year-on-year. The total volume accounts for about 18 percent of all trade.

“The emerging service trade sector has performed really well. Service trade in technology, culture, information technology, consulting, finance and Chinese medicine, all these sectors have been developed very well,” he says.

He adds that China has been making great efforts to push forward service trade development, such as making facilitation policies and listing 15 provinces and cities as pilot area for innovative practices to boost the sector.

Fang Fang, deputy director of the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, says that in 2016, the total volume of service trade imports and exports for Nanjing reached $7.74 billion, an increase of 8 percent year-on-year.

She says that the traditional service trade sectors of Nanjing, such as transportation, tourism and construction, have been growing steadily, and emerging sectors such as information technology and business services have seen rapid growth.

The conference is expected to attract more than 600 global executives, government officials and experts. So far, senior executives from 88 global service trade companies have confirmed their attendance.