Wang Lei: Solidly Promoting High-Level Opening-up to the Outside World
The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) emphasized the need to "promote high-level opening up to the outside world." General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech at the first session of the 14th National People's Congress: "China's development benefits the world, and China's development cannot be separated from the world. We must solidly promote high-level opening up, making good use of global markets and resources to develop ourselves while simultaneously promoting the common development of the world." On the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, we must firmly pursue an opening-up strategy of mutual benefit and win-win results. We must solidly carry out various tasks for high-level opening up, taking high-quality development as the primary task, continuously strengthening the momentum and vitality of socialist modernization, and promoting the effective improvement of economic quality and reasonable growth in quantity.
I. Deeply Understanding the Epochal Significance of High-Level Opening Up
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized when meeting Chinese and foreign journalists at the first session of the 20th CPC Central Committee Bureau of the Political Bureau: "China's door to the world will only open wider and wider." Since the 18th National Congress, our country has unswervingly promoted the comprehensive deepening of reforms, focused on building a new system for an open economy, and continuously cleared the bottlenecks and sticking points [1] obstructing the economic cycle, leading to a significant increase in the vitality of economic development. In the New Era, our country's open economy has achieved historic accomplishments: the total economic volume grew from 54 trillion yuan to 121 trillion yuan; the total volume of trade in goods and services ranks first in the world; and the global share of utilized foreign investment rose from 8.2% to 11.4%. This fully demonstrates that the more China develops, the more it opens up; and the more it opens up, the more it develops. We must more deeply understand the historical necessity and epochal significance of opening up, and in the process of comprehensive opening up, continuously strengthen the driving forces of Chinese economic growth and international competitiveness.
Boosting high-quality development. High-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in all respects. Promoting high-level opening up facilitates the introduction of more advanced international factors of production, better utilization of "two markets and two types of resources" [2], expanding the space, improving the quality, and increasing the momentum for our development, thereby achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and independence in development. Promoting high-level opening up helps strengthen the endogenous power and reliability of the domestic macro-cycle, improves the quality and level of the international cycle, and enhances the linkage effect between the domestic and international markets and resources. Within high-level opening up, we must firmly implement the strategy of expanding domestic demand, promote the formation of a powerful domestic market, and attract global resource elements through the domestic macro-cycle. By using high-level opening up to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, we will accelerate the construction of a strong trade nation and form a virtuous economic cycle within high-quality development. The role of high-level opening up in promoting high-quality development is reflected in better leveraging the function of "opening" to promote changes in growth modes, structural adjustments, and efficiency gains; driving technological innovation and industrial upgrading; pursuing a path of open innovation; expanding international scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation; and shaping new drivers and advantages for high-quality development.
Meeting the people’s needs for a better life. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the people's yearning for a better life is the goal we strive for. The ultimate goal of promoting high-level opening up is to enhance the people's well-being. Under the conditions of an open economy, international and domestic markets are closely linked, and international trade is inextricably tied to the lives of the people. According to statistics, in 2022, the total value of China's import and export of goods reached 42.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.7% over 2021, which increased residents' income. The import of a large volume of high-quality consumer goods, advanced technical equipment, key components, and energy resources meets the needs of both industrial upgrading and consumption upgrading. In promoting high-level opening up, we must always adhere to meeting the people's needs for a better life as the starting point and ultimate goal. We must focus on improving the quality and efficiency of international economic and trade cooperation, better leverage its important role in stabilizing employment and strengthening the economy, increase the import of high-quality products and services, meet the multi-level and diversified consumption needs of the people, effectively improve the quality of life, and continuously enhance the people's sense of gain and happiness.
Promoting steady growth of the Chinese economy. Despite the impact of the pandemic, China's foreign trade and foreign investment have continued to hit record highs, becoming a highlight of the national economy. This stellar performance has made important contributions to the stable operation of the macro-economy. Currently, insufficient total demand is a prominent contradiction facing China's economic operation. While taking the expansion of domestic demand as a strategic pivot, we must actively stabilize exports to developed countries, expand exports to emerging economies and developing countries, improve the level of processing trade, increase the added value of exports, accelerate the construction of a strong trade nation, and continue to give full play to the supporting role of exports on the economy. We should attract and utilize foreign investment with greater intensity through investment promotion, service enhancement, expansion of opening up, and environment optimization. We must not only retain high-quality existing foreign capital but also bring in more high-quality new foreign capital to improve the quality and level of international economic and trade cooperation.
Enhancing the international competitiveness of the Chinese economy. Opening up brings progress, while closure inevitably leads to backwardness. Over the 40-plus years of reform and opening up, the great achievements of China's economic development were obtained through continuous expansion of opening up. Opening up to the outside world has attracted a large amount of foreign direct investment as well as advanced technology, management experience, and talent, which, combined with domestic factors of production, jointly promote economic development. Foreign-funded enterprises have become important market entities in our country; they are not only deeply integrated into the domestic macro-cycle but also possess the advantage of connecting the internal and external sectors. They serve as an important bridge and bond for "dual circulation," making positive contributions to the leap in China's economic strength. Implementing high-level opening up will enhance the "gravitational field" effect of the Chinese market for all kinds of high-quality goods and investments, and more efficiently allocate resources on a global scale, helping our country optimize its economic structure, transform growth drivers, and accelerate the shaping of new advantages in international competition and cooperation.
II. Firmly Grasping the Favorable Conditions and Epochal Requirements of Opening Up
There is no end to reform and opening up; it is a process that is always in the present tense and never finished. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized many times that "China's pace in promoting a higher level of opening up will not stagnate." Our country continues to improve the level of opening up, using it to promote reform, development, and innovation, thereby releasing new reform dividends. On the new journey, we must make full use of the favorable conditions accumulated over 40-plus years of reform and opening up, give play to the unique advantages of the Chinese economy, adhere to the basic principles of opening up, and promote our economy toward development that is of higher quality, more efficient, more equitable, more sustainable, and more secure.
Leveraging the advantages of a super-large-scale market. China has a population of over 1.4 billion, and its GDP per capita exceeds 12,000 USD, achieving a historic leap from a low-income country to an upper-middle-income country. It has become the world's largest consumer market with the greatest growth potential. At the same time, a stable social environment, high-quality labor force, complete industrial supporting facilities, and high return on investment—combined with the huge population size and the advantages of a super-large-scale market—continue to attract foreign investment into China. Over the past five years, China's economy has grown at an average annual rate of 5.2%, significantly higher than the global average of about 2.3% over the same period, maintaining a leading position among the world's major economies. As China's pandemic prevention and control enter a new stage, the endogenous growth momentum and market potential will continue to accumulate and be released. The Chinese economy, with its strong resilience, great potential, and sufficient vitality, will further highlight its attractiveness to the world, inject more momentum into international economic and trade cooperation, and drive the recovery of the world economy.
Leveraging the advantages of a solid foundation in the real economy. China currently possesses a complete industrial system including 41 major categories, 207 medium categories, and 666 small categories. It is the only country in the world that has all the industrial categories listed in the United Nations International Standard Industrial Classification. Manufactured industrial goods are our country's main export products. The world's most complete industrial system provides a powerful real-economy support for our country to carry out economic and trade cooperation with countries around the world. With the deep implementation of the new development philosophy and the deepening of supply-side structural reform, our country's industrial optimization and upgrading have achieved significant results. High-tech manufacturing and equipment manufacturing have become important forces leading manufacturing growth, and new industries such as new energy vehicles, industrial robots, and new types of smart hardware are accelerating their development. Both traditional and emerging industries are showing good development momentum, and the overall capacity of industrial production is continuously improving, which will provide a more solid material foundation for improving the quality and efficiency of China's foreign economic and trade cooperation and expanding its scope.
Leveraging the advantages of high integration with the world economy. China has become a major trading partner for more than 140 countries and regions and the largest trading partner for more than 100 countries. The total volume of trade in goods and services grew from 4.4 trillion USD in 2012 to 6.9 trillion USD in 2021, ranking first in the world. Against the backdrop of the pandemic's heavy blow to global trade and investment, foreign-funded enterprises continue to be optimistic about the prospects of China's economic development. Currently, the international landscape is undergoing profound evolution; the world has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation. The external environment for our country's foreign economic and trade development has become more complex, and uncertain and unpredictable factors have significantly increased. We must unswervingly adhere to high-level opening up, counter the "divestment theory" with a better business environment, and counter the "decoupling theory" with stronger market attractiveness. We must tighten the bonds of economic and trade cooperation between China and foreign countries, enhance our participation in global industrial, supply, and value chains, and better achieve mutual benefit and win-win results with all countries in the world through open cooperation.
Coordinating domestic and international cycles. High-level opening up is an inevitable requirement for constructing the new development pattern. Constructing a new development pattern with the domestic macro-cycle as the mainstay and the domestic and international dual cycles reinforcing each other is a major strategic choice made by the Party Central Committee based on changes in China's development stage, environment, and conditions. From an international comparative perspective, being led by domestic demand and having a smooth internal cycle are important characteristics of a major power's economy. At the same time, constructing the new development pattern is not about engaging in a closed domestic single cycle, but rather an open dual circulation. The domestic macro-cycle is the mainstay and the foundation. Strengthening the domestic macro-cycle and consolidating and improving the domestic economic base will help drive and activate the international cycle, promote the improvement of the international cycle’s quality and level, and allow the positive spillover effects of China's economic development on the world economy to manifest more fully. The international cycle is an indispensable part of the overall cycle of our national economy. Actively participating in the international cycle is an inevitable requirement under the conditions of economic globalization and the international division of labor. We must expand international markets more broadly and deeply and attract more high-quality global factor resources, thereby enhancing the vitality and efficiency of the domestic macro-cycle.
Coordinating development and security. To promote high-level opening up, we must increase our awareness of potential dangers, adhere to bottom-line thinking [3], and achieve a virtuous interaction between high-quality development and high-level opening up. Accelerating the realization of high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength is the only way to promote high-quality development and the key to preventing and defusing international economic and trade risks. We must solidly practice our "internal skills," win the battle for key core technologies, break through "choke-hold" [4] technologies and weak links in components in important fields, and open up new tracks for development and shape new drivers and advantages for development in the face of fierce international competition. We must improve the open security protection system, continuously refine the security review mechanism for foreign investment, improve the regulatory systems and policy tools for foreign cooperation in trade, investment, and finance, and accelerate the construction of a protection system for overseas interests and a risk early-warning and prevention system, resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests.
III. Solidly Performing the Work of High-Level Opening Up
Making good use of the "two markets and two types of resources." The report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC emphasized: "Relying on the advantages of our country's super-large-scale market, attract global resource elements via the domestic macro-cycle, enhance the linkage effect of the two markets and two types of resources, and improve the quality and level of trade and investment cooperation." High-level opening up is reflected in firmly implementing the strategy of expanding domestic demand, promoting the formation of a powerful domestic market, and attracting global resource elements through the domestic macro-cycle. In the process of reform and opening up, we should promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, promote market interconnection, industrial integration, innovation synergy, and rule alignment, thus forming a virtuous cycle at a higher level of opening up. Making good use of the two markets and two types of resources is conducive to the flow and circulation of capital and personnel, promoting the sustainable development of domestic and international markets, providing a good regulatory expectation and environment for the market, and using the growth of the domestic market to promote and drive domestic enterprises to participate in the international market cycle.
Steadily expanding institutional opening up. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, our country has unswervingly promoted the comprehensive deepening of reforms, and the vitality of economic development has been greatly enhanced. At the same time, we must also see that the principal contradiction in our society has changed, there are still many "hard bones to chew" [5] in reforms in key areas, and many difficulties remain to be broken through in institutional opening up. Both the 20th CPC National Congress and the 2022 Central Economic Work Conference emphasized the need to "steadily expand institutional opening up in terms of rules, regulations, management, and standards." High-level opening up promotes deep-level reform. This is reflected in using opening up to help improve the socialist market economy system, giving full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, better leveraging the role of the government, and creating a first-class market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment. By aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and better leveraging the role of pilot free trade zones and the Hainan Free Trade Port as "experimental fields" for reform and opening up, we will steadily expand institutional opening up and promote the formation of a new system for a higher-level open economy.
Accelerate the construction of a strong trade nation. Over the 40-plus years of reform and opening up, our country has already become a global power in trade and investment, yet a significant gap remains relative to the requirement to "accelerate the construction of a strong trade nation" proposed in the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC. Facing the complex changes in the current international situation, we must seize new opportunities in international industrial and technological transfers to assist the Chinese economy in strengthening, supplementing, and extending its industrial chains [6]. We must further strengthen economic and trade cooperation with developing countries and emerging economies, promoting the coordinated development of imports and exports, trade in goods and trade in services, and trade and investment, so as to better leverage the complementarity of resources and factors. We must adapt to the trend of global and regional economic integration, promote the construction of free trade zones, and expand the network of high-standard free trade zones oriented toward the globe, adding momentum to the growth of trade and investment within the region and even globally. On the one hand, we must stabilize our status as a major global trading power. While consolidating traditional advantages in foreign trade, we must increase efforts to open up emerging markets such as Latin America and Africa. We must accelerate the cultivation of new competitive advantages in foreign trade to ensure the stability of the basic foreign trade sector [7]. On the other hand, we must accelerate structural adjustment and optimization. We should focus on improving quality and efficiency, promote the optimization and upgrading of trade in goods, accelerate the development of new forms of trade, improve the quality level of Chinese manufacturing, further create branded products with international competitiveness, innovate developmental mechanisms for trade in services, and enhance our right to speak and discursive power [8] on the international economic and trade stage.
Optimize the regional layout of opening up. The problem of unbalanced and inadequate regional development in our country remains prominent; the eastern region is still the main hub of the open economy, and the situation where the coast is strong while the inland is weak has not yet been fundamentally reversed. We must give full play to the initiative of both the central and local governments [9], connecting the opening-up processes of different regions with major regional strategies, using regional nodal cities as base points to expand the breadth and depth of opening up, and forming a high-potential energy for all-around opening up. We must combine the locational advantages, resource endowments, and industrial-economic foundations of different regions to serve different national strategies according to local conditions, achieving high-level opening up. On the one hand, we must continue to consolidate the leading position of the east and enhance the global competitiveness of the eastern region. We should give full play to the advantageous positions of the eastern coastal areas and mega-cities, continue to strengthen the ability to attract high-end factors, take the lead in exploring international innovation cooperation, promote the climb of regional industrial division of labor toward the high end of the global industrial and value chains, and play a demonstration and leading role in creating world-class industrial clusters and aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules. On the other hand, we must accelerate the pace of opening up in the central, western, and northeastern regions, creating new frontiers for opening to the outside world. We should optimize the construction of opening-up platforms in the central and western regions, taking the opportunity of high-quality Belt and Road Initiative cooperation to accelerate the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, support the undertaking of industrial transfers from domestic and foreign sources, cultivate new regional opening-up highlands and economic growth poles, and boost inland areas to become frontiers of opening up.
(Author: Director of the Bureau of International Cooperation of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; Specially Invited Researcher at the Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)