BEIJING, China, Sep 16, 2025 – At the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, products included energy storage systems for grid applications, waste-sorting bins with sensor guidance, and autonomous boats for cutting aquatic weeds. The displays reflect ongoing work to apply automation, sensing, and control technologies to environmental management tasks, to reduce manual labor and improve operational consistency in public and industrial settings.
Beistar CZ, a Czech company debuting at CIFTIS, presented an energy storage system that converts surplus grid electricity into thermal energy. The system stores heat inside a unit filled with hot air and heat-resistant materials. According to the company, this approach can store energy at about one-fiftieth the cost of battery storage.
George Jermakov, technology director at Beistar CZ, said: “There are no greater opportunities anywhere in the world than in China.” He continued, “There is a great wave in China to go green,” he said. “Many steps have been taken by the government and the people, and they are moving faster and faster toward their goals.”
The 2025 CIFTIS, held in Beijing from Sept. 10 to 14 with the theme “Embrace Intelligent Technologies, Empower Trade in Services,” has drawn nearly 2,000 on-site exhibitors. Participants include representatives from more than 20 countries.
TestraBin, developed by Australian company Sencity, is a garbage-sorting bin with three sensor-equipped slots for different waste types. Electronic screens around the bin display basic animations or digital content when items are placed in the correct slots.
“In the past, a lot of money was spent on public campaigns to encourage people to sort their waste. This product makes the process interactive and fun,” said Wanchen Zhao, vice president of Sencity. “Every time we showcase it in China, people show great interest. Many see it as a glimpse of the next era, where everyday items are infused with more technology and interactivity.”
An unmanned street-sweeping vehicle developed by Beijing Environment Sanitation Group is equipped with lidar, 360-degree cameras and ultrasonic radar. The vehicle can clean up to 6,000 square meters per hour, equal to the workload of six to eight workers. The group, which provides integrated services ranging from public-space cleaning to waste collection, transportation and treatment, has offered consulting and technical support to countries like Mongolia, Pakistan, Laos, Bangladesh and Chad.
An unmanned weed-cutting vessel was shown at the fair. It uses blades to remove aquatic plants and includes a control system that simulates plant growth to plan its removal time. This setup helps schedule cutting based on vegetation conditions.
“For a city of more than 20 million people like Beijing, many of these urban management solutions can be applied to cities elsewhere in the world,” said Chen Nan, a technician with the Beijing Water Science and Technology Institute, which developed the vessel.
Huatong Technology develops zero-carbon industrial parks that use renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and biomass. Its projects involve retrofitting buildings, upgrading equipment, and operating centralized platforms to monitor energy use and emissions. Over about 20 years, Huatong Technology has completed more than 10,000 projects in China across high-tech zones, industrial and logistics parks, and cultural and agricultural parks.
China’s services trade topped 1 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time in 2024. In the first seven months of 2025, it expanded 8.2 percent year on year to nearly 4.58 trillion yuan (about 644.9 billion U.S. dollars), official data showed.
“China is at the forefront of major green technologies. It is the low-cost producer of wind, solar, long-distance power transmission and zero carbon power supplies,” said Jeffrey Sachs, chairman of the United Nations sustainable development solutions network.
Source: CIFTIS
About CIFTIS
China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) is an annual trade fair held in Beijing, co-organized by Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China and the Beijing Municipal Government. The event serves as a platform for promoting international trade in services, encouraging investment, and fostering policy and technological exchanges. It brings together companies and organizations across sectors including digital trade, finance, telecommunications, healthcare, cultural services, education, logistics, green technology, and AI. The 2025 edition featured nearly 500 Fortune Global 500 companies and representatives from more than 80 countries and international organizations. CIFTIS hosts exhibitions, forums, and business meetings designed to connect service providers, investors, and policymakers, aiming to strengthen global cooperation and expand opportunities in the services economy.