Openness is a hallmark of contemporary China. Since the start of reform and opening-up over 40 years ago, China has been committed to the basic national policy of opening-up, continuously opening wider to the world and achieving a major transformation from a country that was once largely isolated to one that is now open to the world. Since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core has conducted top-level design and strategic planning for opening-up in the new era. From breaking new ground in the pursuit of opening-up on all fronts to opening wider at a higher standard, from solid and joint efforts for the high-quality development of the Belt and Road to the progress in hosting the China International Import Expo (CIIE) and the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), and from improving the quality and efficiency of pilot free trade zones (FTZs) to the accelerated development of the Hainan Free Trade Port, China's opening-up has continued to make new historic achievements. Right now, changes in the world, the times and history are unfolding in ways unseen before. China's openness and development are facing a more complex external environment, but the historical trend of openness and development will not reverse course, and our shared desire to promote cooperation and meet challenges together will remain as strong as ever. At the new standing point, China's door will continue to open wider to the rest of the world.  

Greater efforts in opening-up

After joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), China has gradually established a domestic economic administration system that is consistent with international economic and trade rules, which has released huge institutional dividends. China has fulfilled its commitments to the WTO and aligned with its rules, with more than 2,300 laws and regulations having been reviewed and revised by the central government, and over 190,000 by local governments, consequently injecting vitality into the Chinese market and society. The country's overall tariff level of goods at present has dropped to 7.4 percent. For trade in services, nearly 120 sectors have been opened up and comprehensive pilot projects for wider opening-up of services have been launched in five provincial regions. Robust efforts have been made to foster a market-oriented and world-class business environment underpinned by a sound legal framework, with pilot projects on business environment innovation being carried out in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen − a move that involves 101 reform measures across 10 areas. China has fully implemented the "pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list" management system for foreign investment. The number of items off-limits to foreign investors has been cut for five consecutive years, to 31, with manufacturing restrictions in pilot FTZs reduced to zero. Several special measures were also introduced this year to ease market access in Shenzhen.

Looking into the future, the country will continue to deepen its reforms to delegate power, streamline administration, improve regulation and optimize government services, develop transparent, stable and predictable regulatory rules, further improve the foreign investment promotion and service system, and fully enforce the Foreign Investment Law and related supporting regulations. China will expand market access, ensure foreign companies’ lawful and equal access to fields that have been opened up, strictly protect intellectual property rights, advance trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and build the country into a major market of the world and popular destination for foreign investment.

Higher quality of opening-up

China has become the world's largest trader in goods and second-largest trader in services, as well as the top investment destination among developing countries. In 2021, China's foreign trade and investment both reached record highs. The total volume of foreign trade surpassed the two thresholds of $5 trillion and $6 trillion in one year, and net exports contributed nearly 21percent to the country's GDP growth. Foreign direct investment into China rose from $136.32 billion five years ago to $173.48 billion in 2021, with an average annual growth rate of 6.2 percent. China has become the major trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions, and the contribution of China's economy to the world’s economic growth has stood at around 30percent for several consecutive years. China has accelerated the development of pilot FTZs, accumulating experiences that can be replicated and promoted across the country, and the island province of Hainan is currently in full swing to become a free trade port. China has taken steps to establish 132 integrated pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce, which have explored new business patterns and models. The CIIE, successfully held for four consecutive years, has clinched deals worth over $270 billion, providing development opportunities for enterprises across the world. 

Looking ahead, China will promote the innovative development and comprehensive competitiveness of foreign trade and enhance the quality of foreign investment utilization. The country will also improve the layout of pilot FTZs, advance the quality of these zones in line with high standards, facilitate the rise of clusters of high-end and high-tech industries, support pilot FTZs to deepen international exchanges and cooperation in carrying out basic research and making breakthroughs in sci-tech innovation, as well as to attract global high-quality resources by a high level of openness.

A better layout of opening-up

In the last nine years, co-construction of the Belt and Road has turned ideas into actions and visions into reality, shifting from "painting the broad strokes" to "refining the details", and accomplishing solid and fruitful achievements. Until now, China has signed more than 200 Belt and Road cooperation agreements with 149 countries and 32 international organizations. The annual total volume of trade in goods between China and countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has increased from $1.04 trillion to $1.8 trillion. China’s direct investment in BRI countries already totaled $161.3 billion, with additional new agreements for contracted projects worth about $1.08 trillion. The total number of China-Europe Railway Express trips has exceeded 50,000, while the China-Laos Railway has already come into operation and the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor has also made new progress. China has gradually improved the layout of opening-up amid the implementation of strategies, such as the integrated development in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Yangtze River Delta regions, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle, the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone.

In the future, China will continue to promote the high-quality development of the Belt and Road, advance the connectivity of policies, rules and standards among countries involved in the BRI, and ensure the quality building and operation of major cooperative projects. China will also step up efforts to foster new growth points in the fields of health, sustainability, digital technology and innovation, enhance risk prevention and control and security management systems, promote regional coordinated development, and move closer towards the goals of a opening-up pattern featuring land-sea and domestic-international connection as well as east-west mutual reinforcement.

Stronger openness and inclusion

China's development has benefited from the international community, and it is also willing to actively assume its international responsibilities and obligations, providing assistance to relevant countries to the best of its ability and contributing Chinese wisdom to global governance. China has held high the banner of building a community with a shared future for mankind, played a leading role as a major country in global economic governance and the formulation of international economic and trade rules, and put forward the country's solutions that both meet its own interests and gain international recognition. Last year, President Xi Jinping proposed the Global Development Initiative with the aim to promote stronger, greener and healthier global development and speed up the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The proposal received wide support from the international community, including more than 100 countries and international organizations that are ready to work with China in putting the idea into practice and building a global community of development. China has signed 19 free trade agreements (FTAs) with 26 countries and regions, among which three fourths were reached in the past decade, and the agreement of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) came into force early this year.

Looking into the future, China will actively participate in cooperation within the frameworks of the United Nations, the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC), as well as in the reform of the WTO, and enhance discussions on trade, investment, the digital economy, and green and low-carbon development issues. China will work to negotiate and conclude high-standard FTAs with more countries and regions, advance its accession into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and accelerate the construction of a global network of high-standard FTAs.

(The author is a member of the Standing Committee and the Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former chairperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. The article is translated from Chinese to English by en.cppcc.gov.cn.)