Section 3: Adhere to comprehensive openness

Opening up to the outside world is China’s basic national policy. Over the past 40 years, China has persisted in opening its doors to construction, transforming itself from a relatively closed economy into an economy that is deeply integrated with the world economy and increasingly open, and has achieved development achievements that have attracted worldwide attention. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, in the face of the new era and new situation, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has accurately judged the general trend of world development, accurately grasped the connotation of comprehensive opening up, persisted in actively participating in and actively promoting the process of economic globalization, developed a higher-level open economy, and promoted the formation of a new pattern of comprehensive opening up.

1. The new situation and new requirements facing opening up to the outside world

The world now is an open world. Facing the world, the implementation of economic opening up and the implementation of different degrees of opening up in various fields has become an inevitable requirement for the development of all countries in the world today. Opening up is the trend of the times and the aspiration of the people. Openness leads to progress, closure leads to backwardness. The CPC’s regard of opening up to the outside world as its basic national policy means conforming to the trend of development of the times and building, consolidating and developing socialism under the conditions of opening up to the outside world and in the process of linking with economic globalization. It is precisely in the process of opening up to the outside world that China has become the world’s second largest economy, contributing more than 30% to world economic growth for many consecutive years, and scientific socialism has shown vigor and vitality in China. In the new era, the international and domestic situations facing opening up to the outside world are undergoing profound and complex changes. Internationally, the world today is experiencing major changes unprecedented in a century, with the economic and social development of countries becoming increasingly closely linked, and the reform of the global governance system and international order accelerating.

At the same time, the world economy has been deeply adjusted, the problem of insufficient new momentum is prominent, the problems of unbalanced development and income distribution have intensified, the new challenges brought by new technologies, new industries and new formats have become prominent, some countries have obvious policy preferences, international trade and investment barriers have been continuously raised, global unilateralism, protectionism and populism have gradually spread and fermented, economic globalization has encountered twists and turns, multilateralism and free trade system have been impacted, there are still many unstable and uncertain factors, and risks and challenges have intensified. The world faces important choices between openness and conservatism, cooperation and closure, change and conservatism, which are both full of hope and challenges.

From a domestic point of view, China’s economic development has entered the new normal, labor costs continue to rise, resource constraints are becoming increasingly tight, environmental carrying capacity is close to the upper limit, the traditional competitive advantage of open economy has been weakened, and the traditional development model has encountered bottlenecks. At the same time, China is rich in human resources, the market scale is large, the infrastructure is relatively perfect, the industrial facilities are complete, the institutional environment and policy environment for innovative development are constantly improving, and the open economy still has comprehensive competitive advantages. Under the pressure of severe and complex domestic and foreign environment, China’s processing trade has accelerated transformation and upgrading, service trade has continued to develop rapidly, new foreign trade new products, new formats and new models have continued to emerge, the international operation ability of enterprises has been significantly enhanced, and its status in the international division of labor has gradually improved. Reality requires us to accelerate the transformation of the open economy from factor-driven to innovation- driven, from scale and speed to quality and efficiency, and from cost and price advantages to comprehensive competitive advantages with technology, standards, brands, quality and service as the core.

With the increase of China’s national strength, China’s relations with the world are also undergoing profound changes, China’s status and role in the international arena have been greatly enhanced, and its interaction with the international community has been unprecedentedly close. China’s every move attracts the world’s attention. Comrade Xi Jinping solemnly declared: “The door of China’s opening will not be closed, but will only open wider and wider.” China’s pace of promoting a higher level of opening up will not stagnate! China’s pace of promoting the construction of an open world economy will not stagnate; China’s pace of promoting the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind will not stagnate!“1 In the new era, China will make greater contributions to the common prosperity of all countries in the world while achieving its own development with a more responsible spirit, a more inclusive mind and higher quality growth.

2. New measures to promote the formation of a new pattern of comprehensive opening up

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China summed up China’s valuable experience in opening up to the outside world, conformed to the general trend of economic globalization, and made a major strategic plan to promote the formation of a new pattern of comprehensive opening up. This strategic deployment, which includes the expansion of the scope of opening up, the broadening of the field and the deepening of the level, as well as the innovation of open methods, the optimization of layout, and the improvement of quality, is the proper meaning of the basic strategy of adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, and is the basic compliance of China’s opening up to the outside world. The new pattern of comprehensive opening up is reflected in the open space, that is, optimizing the layout of regional opening-up, increasing the intensity of opening up in the west, changing the regional pattern of China’s opening up to the outside world that is fast and slow in the west and strong and weak in the coastal interior, and gradually forming an open pattern of division of labor and cooperation along the coastal inland border, interactive development, and mutual assistance between the east and the west Construction, adhere to independent opening up and reciprocal opening-up, accelerate the strategic planning of going out, coordinate multilateral, bilateral and regional opening up and cooperation, and accelerate the implementation of the free trade area strategy; reflected in the content of opening-up, that is, greatly relax the market quasi-personnel, further liberalize the general manufacturing industry, orderly expand the opening up of the service industry, expand the two-way opening up of the financial industry, and promote infrastructure interconnection. According to this new pattern, China has taken a series of major measures in opening up to the outside world.

First, solidly promote the construction of the “Belt and Road.” The construction of the “Belt and Road” is a major strategic measure for China to expand opening up to the outside world, and it is also the focus of opening up in the coming period. With the joint efforts of all parties, the construction of the “Belt and Road” has gradually changed from concept to action, from vision to reality. In order to promote the construction of the “Belt and Road”, China has held the “Belt and Road” Summit Forum for International Cooperation. This not only builds a new platform for China to expand opening up, but also helps promote world economic growth and deepen regional cooperation. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that in accordance with the principle of consultation, co-construction and sharing, actively promote international cooperation on the “Belt and Road”, strive to achieve policy coordination, facility connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bonds, create a new platform for international cooperation, and add new impetus to common development. To this end, it is necessary to strengthen the docking with the development strategies of countries along the Belt and Road, enhance strategic mutual trust, seek the greatest common denominator of cooperation, and build the “One Belt, One Road” into a road of peace, prosperity, openness, innovation and civilization.

The second is to promote the construction of a strong trade country. From a major trading country to a trading power, we must consolidate the traditional advantages of foreign trade, cultivate new competitive advantages, expand the space for foreign trade development, and actively expand imports. It is necessary to expand foreign trade, accelerate the transformation of trade development mode, change from focusing on trade in goods to coordinated development of trade in goods and services, from relying on imitation and following to relying on innovation and creation, and from large input and large output to high quality, high price, and excellent input. It is necessary to cultivate new trade formats and models, support the healthy development of cross-border e-commerce, market procurement trade, and comprehensive foreign trade services, and create new growth points for foreign trade. We must promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, oppose trade protectionism, support the multilateral trading system, promote international cooperation in production capacity, participate in international cooperation at a higher level and in a wider space, form a global-oriented trade, investment and financing, production and service network, and accelerate the cultivation of new advantages in international economic cooperation and competition. We must innovate foreign investment methods, strengthen guidance for overseas mergers and acquisitions, standardize overseas business behavior, and strive to achieve common and sustainable development. China has held the China International Import Expo since 2018, which is the world’s first import-themed national-level exhibition so far, which is a major innovation in the history of international trade development. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: “China’s initiative to expand imports is not an expedient measure, but a long-term consideration for facing the world, facing the future and promoting common development.“1 “The China International Import Expo should not only be held every year, but also run at a high level, achieve results, and do better and better.“2 These loud words have fully demonstrated to the world China’s sincerity and goodwill in opening up its own market and sharing development opportunities. At the second China International Import Expo held as scheduled in November 2019, Comrade Xi Jinping put forward three suggestions for jointly building an open and cooperative, open innovation and open and shared world economy, indicating China’s positive attitude of further opening up and promoting trade facilitation. The third is to actively create a world-class business environment. The business environment is also productivity. China has vigorously strengthened the construction of the rule of law in the use of foreign investment, unified domestic and foreign investment laws and regulations, improved an open and transparent foreign-related legal system, comprehensively implemented the pre-national treatment plus negative list management system for prospective personnel, created a fair market environment, continued to relax market access, and respected international business practices.

All types of enterprises registered in China will be treated equally and equally, the legitimate rights and interests of foreign-funded enterprises will be protected, intellectual property protection will be strengthened, and entrepreneurs from all over the world will strive to provide a better environment and conditions for entrepreneurs from all over the world to invest and develop their businesses in China, and improve the level of open economy in a larger scope, in a wider range of fields and at a deeper level. In recent years, through large-scale tax and fee reductions, and the in-depth promotion of the reform of decentralization, management and service, on October 24, 2019, the World Bank released the “2020 Business Environment Report”, ranking China’s business environment ranked first46th place rose to 31st place, up 15 places. The Foreign Investment Law, passed in March 2019, establishes the basic framework of China’s foreign investment legal system, making unified provisions on the access, promotion, protection and management of foreign investment. In October, the Regulations on Optimizing the Business Environment were promulgated. This is an important measure for China to create a business environment based on the rule of law, internationalization and facilitation, marking that China’s business environment will reach a new level. The fourth is to optimize the layout of regional opening up and create a new highland for opening up to the outside world. In the pattern of China’s opening up to the outside world, the eastern part started early and developed rapidly, while the western region started late and developed slowly. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the western region has continuously accelerated the pace of opening up to the outside world, maintained a good development trend in foreign trade and attracted foreign investment, and achieved good results. However, due to the weak development foundation and the overall low base, the western region is still a “short board” in China’s regional opening layout. Data show that the western region has 72 percent of the country’s land area, 27 percent of the population, and 20 percent of the total economy, while foreign trade accounts for only 7 percent of the country’s total, and the use of foreign capital and foreign investment account for 7.6 percent and 7.7 percent respectively. The 19th CPC National Congress proposed to optimize the layout of regional opening up and intensify the opening up of the western region. The western region should give full play to its advantages of abundant natural resources, abundant labor, and increased state policy support, deepen and expand opening up, and promote a more optimized pattern of opening up.

Fifth, coordinate multilateral and bilateral and regional opening up and cooperation, and accelerate the implementation of the free trade area strategy. Since the beginning of the new century, the development process of the multilateral trading system has been blocked, and regional trading arrangements with a higher level of openness and greater flexibility have flourished, becoming the main engine driving economic globalization. In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that he should actively participate in the reform and construction of the global governance system, support the multilateral trading system, promote the construction of free trade areas, and promote the construction of an open world economy. This is not only the need to expand its own open space, but also reflects the responsibility of maintaining the international economic order. The implementation of the free trade area strategy is a major measure for China to optimize the layout of opening up and create a new highland of opening up.

By the end of 2019, China had established a total of 18 pilot free trade zones, covering all directions in the southeast, northwest, and central regions. In November 2018, the State Council issued the Notice on Several Measures to Support the Deepening Reform and Innovation of the Pilot Free Trade Zones, giving the pilot free trade zones greater autonomy in reform, continuing to deepen differentiated exploration, increasing stress testing, and giving full play to the role of the pilot free trade zones as a pilot field for reform and opening up. China should not only build the whole island of Hainan into a pilot free trade zone, but also support Hainan to gradually explore and steadily promote the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics, establish a free trade port policy and institutional system step by step and in stages, and build the Hainan free trade port into a clear banner and an important open door leading China’s opening up in the new era, and drive the formation of a new pattern of higher-level reform and opening up. In order to further expand opening up, China not only actively promotes the transformation from the opening up of commodity and factor flows to rules and other institutional opening-up, promotes the construction of a fair, reasonable and transparent system of international economic, trade and investment rules, maintains and develops an open world economy, jointly creates an environment conducive to open development, promotes the orderly flow of production factors and efficient allocation of resources. The deep integration of the market also repeatedly emphasizes that China adheres to win-win opening up and does not pursue a zero-sum game. Comrade Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: “China’s opening up to the outside world is not to sing a one-man show, but to welcome the participation of all parties; it is not to seek a sphere of influence.” It is to support the common development of all countries; not to create their own back gardens, but to build a hundred gardens shared by all countries.”1 This strongly declares to the world that China’s opening up to the outside world is committed to win-win and win-win results. “If you are connected, you will advance together, and if you are closed, you will retreat.” “Looking back at history, open cooperation is an important driving force for enhancing the vitality of international economy and trade. Today, open cooperation is a realistic requirement for promoting the stable recovery of the world economy. Looking to the future, openness and cooperation are the requirements of the times to promote the continuous progress of human society. China unswervingly pursues a mutually beneficial and win-win opening up strategy, achieves greater intensity and higher levels of opening up, and provides countries with broader markets, more abundant capital, richer products and more opportunities for cooperation. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out: “China is the world’s second largest economy, with a large market of more than 1.3 billion people and a land area of more than 9.6 million square kilometers. The sea has calm times and stormy times. Without the wind and rain, it would not be the sea.

Storms can overturn small ponds, but not the sea. After more than 5,000 years of hardship and hardship, China is still here! facing the future, China will always be here!“1 Openness should be two-way and mutually beneficial, rather than one-way and beneficial to one party. In the face of profound changes in the world economic pattern, all countries should join hands to actively promote openness and cooperation, support the multilateral trading system, and oppose unilateralism and protectionism. In the Sino-US trade frictions, there are voices in the United States that they want to decouple the United States from China, and even decouple China from the world. As the world’s largest developing country, the largest developed country and the top two economies, China and the United States have frequent exchanges and converged interests, which is already “you have me, I have you”, and the so-called decoupling is unimaginable. Decoupling from China means decoupling from opportunities and decoupling from the future. Today’s China is not only the China of China, but also the China of the world. In the future, China will embrace the world with a more open attitude, form a more benign interaction with the world, and bring a more progressive and prosperous China and the world.