China News Service, Beijing, September 12 (Reporters Zhou Zhaojun and Chen Hang) Ethiopian coffee, Sri Lankan black tea, Syrian Aleppo ancient soap... At the 2026 China International Fair for Trade in Services being held in Beijing, the 11th "Colorful World" cultural display and exchange event focuses on showcasing global scenery, bringing the flavors, crafts and cultures of different countries to visitors from all over the world.
At the Ethiopian booth, consumers lined up to inquire about prices and place orders, and many types of hand-brewed coffee were sold out in a short time. Staff member Wang Xinyu said that after the last Service Trade Fair, the number of online and offline inquiries increased significantly. This year, many old customers made a special trip to the site to make repeat purchases after a year.
Wang Xinyu said that Ethiopia is known as the "hometown" of coffee. The local coffee has its own floral and fruity notes, high quality and affordable price, and has become an important purchasing area for many domestic coffee brands.
Behind a cup of coffee, economic and trade exchanges between the two countries become increasingly frequent. Public reports show that in the 2025/26 fiscal year, China ranks as the third largest export market for Ethiopian coffee, ranking higher than the fifth place in the previous fiscal year.
As an "old friend" of the CIFTIS, Syria brought Aleppo ancient soap, Damascus rose essential oil and herbal tea for the first time. Staff member Muhannad Shakally said that every year, regular customers come to the exhibition site to see if there are new products on the shelves.
He said that Aleppo ancient soap follows traditional techniques and uses olive oil, laurel oil and water as raw materials. It is boiled and dried naturally for several months before being put on the market. The higher the oil content and the longer it is stored, the better the quality. The booth mainly promotes two classic fragrances: rose and jasmine. Consumers can smell the fragrance on site and choose it, or purchase according to their functional needs.
At the Sri Lankan booth, tea merchant Anura Banda is enthusiastically inviting visitors to taste Ceylon black tea for free. After graduating from college in Beijing, he devoted himself to the tea trade, not only introducing black tea from his hometown to China, but also exporting Chinese green tea and oolong tea to Sri Lanka. Having participated in the Service Trade Fair for three consecutive years, he was able to directly collect taste feedback and adjust the blending and packaging accordingly, attracting old customers to return to the booth for repurchase and new customers to add their contact information for long-term communication.
In addition to tea, personnel exchanges are equally lively. Sri Lanka will receive approximately 132,000 Chinese tourists in 2025. The long-term vision is to gradually increase the number of Chinese tourists to the country to 1 million per year. Anura Banda said that Sri Lanka’s “Chinese craze” continues to heat up, and many universities have opened Chinese majors. Sri Lanka is a well-known tourist destination with rich natural resources. It welcomes Chinese tourists to experience the original ecological scenery.
