The China International Fair for Trade in Services opened in Beijing on Sept 4, marking the country's first major international trade event to be held offline since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Since its inception in 2012, the CIFTIS has grown to become the largest fair for trade in services worldwide. It is also one of China's three major trade exhibitions, the other two being the China Import and Export Fair and the China International Import Expo.

A total of 17 enterprises based in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province are attending the fair. They are primarily service providers in sectors including shipping, education, computer information and medical research and development.

One such company is Pharmaron, a premium R&D service provider in the life health sector. In the first half of this year, the company's net profits reached 479 million yuan ($69.4 million), a year-on-year increase of 196.89 percent, according to the company's financial report.

Li Chengzong, chief financial officer of Pharmaron, said that the company now employs over 1,000 R&D personnel in Ningbo, and that figure is expected to increase further in the future.

The second phase of the company's service base in the Ningbo section of the Hangzhou Bay is expected to be put into use in 2021, by which time its R&D personnel are expected to increase by over 2,500, Li said.

Other attendees from Ningbo include the University of Nottingham Ningbo, the first joint-venture university in China, which recently became the only authorized university in East Asia to offer online courses on Cambridge International Teacher Professional Development Qualifications.

From January to June, Ningbo's total trade in services amounted to 54.796 billion yuan, representing a yearly uptick of 3.17 percent.

Trade in financial services, insurance services, and computer and information services all showed robust growth, with year-on-year increases of 47.86 percent, 18.67 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively.