The Shanghai Association of International Services Trade (SAIS) was established in October 1996 as the first of its kind in China. It aims to provide guidance and support for Shanghai's service companies to access international markets, promote international exchange and cooperation between domestic and overseas companies, accelerate the development of Shanghai's outbound economy and trade and promote the transformation of Shanghai into a service economy, providing trade services for the Yangtze River Delta and mainland China.
At present, SAIS has more than 500 corporate members, including companies and institutions providing international trade, exhibitions, finance, insurance, transport, advertising, information, consulting, design, accounting and legal affairs.To promote the development of Shanghai's culture industry and achieve the goal of "going global with Chinese culture", SAIS has established a special committee for cultural services.
In October 2014, the special committee and some cultural enterprises participated in the 8th Middle East Game and Comic Fair and Developers' Conference, held at the Dubai World Trade Center. During the event, enterprises from Shanghai conducted negotiations with games companies from Morocco, Dubai, Malaysia, Japan, and other countries, and signed a number of cooperation memorandums. In April and June 2016, the special committee arranged for companies to participate in Middle East Film and Comic Con and the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France.
