Mohan, a small city in the far south of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, reached a major trade milestone last month, with more than ten million tons of cargo, including fresh fruits, coffee, air conditioners and new energy vehicles, transported by the China-Laos Railway over the past three years.
Since the launch of the 1,035 km rail line in December 2021, Mohan has become a transport hub, with major road and rail terminals. It is also the only national-level land terminal connecting China and Laos, opening up new development prospects.
Mohan’s story is a shining example of China’s unwavering and high-level opening-up. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China 75 years ago, the country has achieved great strides in development by opening up more widely to the world.
Convinced that opening-up is the right path, China has implemented proactive strategies, including boosting trade growth, attracting foreign investment and expanding institutional opening-up, to accelerate the cultivation of new advantages international competitiveness and mutual benefits with other countries.
STRENGTHENING FOREIGN TRADE AND INVESTMENT
In 1950, China’s foreign trade in goods was only $1.1 billion, accounting for 0.9% of the world’s total. By 2023, China’s merchandise trade had reached $5.9 trillion, accounting for 12.4 percent of the world’s total, ranking first in the world for the seventh consecutive year.
The country’s services trade has also seen considerable expansion. When the People’s Republic of China was founded, trade in services was virtually zero. In 2023, China’s total import and export volume of services was $933.1 billion, ranking fourth in the world.
The country is actively developing its imports in order to share market opportunities with the rest of the world. In 2023, China’s import sources covered more than 200 countries and regions. The China International Import Expo (CIIE), the world’s first national-level import-themed expo, has been held for six consecutive years.
“China should continue to provide other countries with new opportunities from its vast market by organizing international fairs, such as the CIIE, the China International Consumer Products Expo and the World Digital Commerce Expo,” he said. said Ma Xiangdong, professor at the Party School of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Beijing Municipal Committee.
Continuous efforts have been made to lower tariffs. China’s overall tariff level was reduced to 7.3%, bringing it closer to the average level of developed countries. The country recently announced its intention to grant all least developed countries with diplomatic relations with it zero tariff treatment for 100% tariff lines starting December 1 this year.
China has built 22 pilot free trade zones, covering coastal, inland and border areas, contributing about 20 percent of the country’s total foreign investment and import-export volume.
The country also continues to expand its “circle of friends” globally. By the end of 2023, China had signed 22 free trade agreements with 29 countries and regions, as well as more than 200 Belt and Road cooperation documents with more than 150 countries and more than 30 international organizations.
At the same time, foreign investment was encouraged. The country’s negative list for foreign investment was shortened for five consecutive years from 2017 to 2021, and laws and regulations, including the Foreign Investment Law, came into force to strengthen protection for foreign investors.
In 2023, China’s foreign direct investment, in actual use, reached $163.3 billion, 176 times higher than the $920 million reported in 1983, maintaining its position as a global leader in scale for several consecutive years.
Chinese investments play an increasingly important role in promoting economic development across the world. In 2023, China’s non-financial outward direct investment reached $130.1 billion, 61 times more than in 2003, ranking third in the world for the eleventh consecutive year.
PROMOTE INSTITUTIONAL OPENNESS
In recent decades, China has relentlessly expanded institutional opening-up to achieve high-quality development and provide the world with new momentum and opportunities for growth, by implementing various policies.
In September, China announced that it would allow the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in some cities and regions across the country, including Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hainan Island.
The same month, the country released the 2024 version of China’s negative market access list for foreign investment, reducing the number of restrictions from 31 to 29 and imposing no restrictions on the manufacturing sector.
This fully demonstrates China’s active desire to increase mutual benefits and its clear attitude of supporting economic globalization, said Jin Xiandong, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, adding that more efforts will be made. to improve the level of liberalization and facilitation of foreign investments, and to optimize services to foreign-invested businesses.
At its third plenum, the 20th CPC Central Committee renewed the country’s commitment to the fundamental policy of opening up to the world and continuing to promote reform through opening up.
“By leveraging the strengths of China’s huge market, we will strengthen our opening capacity while developing international cooperation and building new institutions for a higher level open economy,” reads a resolution adopted during the plenum.
Opening up to the world is not just about “opening the door”, but also actively aligning with international economic and trade regulations and other high-level rules, said Zhang Bin, deputy director of the Institute of World Economy and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Zhang stressed the need to strengthen synergy between domestic and international markets and resources to continuously cultivate and consolidate new advantages in international economic cooperation and competition.
