Author: Chi Fulin is a special researcher of the Hainan Provincial Research Center for the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics and the president of the China [Hainan] Reform and Development Research Institute
The practice of China's 20 years of accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has fully proved that "opening up brings progress, and closure is bound to lag behind; if China's development is to win advantages, win the initiative, and win the future, it must conform to economic globalization, rely on China's super-large-scale market advantages, and implement a more proactive strategy of opening up." "In the face of the profound and complex changes in the world's political and economic pattern, and in the face of the severe challenges of the global epidemic pandemic and the superposition of various global crises that have not been encountered in a century, China has focused on building a new development pattern and firmly promoting high-level opening up, which is not only an important measure to expand domestic demand, maintain sustained economic growth, and promote global economic stability and recovery, but also a strategic choice for deep integration into the world economy and the process of economic globalization."
The door of China's opening up is opening wider and wider
General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed many times that "the door of China's opening up will not be closed, but will only open wider and wider." Over the past 40 -odd years of reform and opening up, especially since joining the World Trade Organization, China has conformed to the trend of the times, continuously expanded the level of opening up to the outside world, and achieved a historic change from closed and semi-closed to all-round opening up.
From the opening of the industrial market to the opening of the service market. Since joining the World Trade Organization, China has accelerated the opening of the market in the industrial field, deeply participated in the international division of labor and the global industrial chain system, and built the world's largest, most complete and most complete manufacturing system, becoming the "world's factory". In 2010, the added value of China's manufacturing industry surpassed that of the United States for the first time, becoming the world's largest manufacturing country, and since then it has ranked first in the world for many years. To adapt to the process of industrial structure transformation and upgrading, the opening up of China's service market has accelerated significantly. When China joined the WTO, it promised to open up 100 service sub-sectors in nine categories, and at present, it has actually opened up nearly 120 service sub-sectors, and launched major opening measures in many fields such as finance, insurance, legal services, and distribution. For example, when joining the WTO, it promised that the proportion of foreign capital in securities enterprises would reach one-third within three years, and it would take only one year to fulfill the commitment.
Shift from trade in goods to focus on trade in services. In the past 20 years, China has earnestly fulfilled its commitment to the opening up of goods and services, and the total level of China's import tariffs in 2021 is 7.4%, lower than the 9.8% commitment to WTO accession, lower than the average level of developing members, and close to the level of developed members; the total import and export of goods has increased from 620.8 billion US dollars in 2002 to 4655.9 billion US dollars in 2020, an average annual growth of 11.8%, and the scale of trade in goods has risen from the sixth place in the world to the first place. Under the dual impetus of the acceleration of industrial structure reform and the opening up of the service market, the scale of China's service trade has continued to expand and its international competitiveness has been further enhanced. From 2002 to 2020, China's total import and export of services increased from US$85.5 billion to US$661.7 billion, accounting for 6.8% of the total import and export of global services, ranking second in the world for seven consecutive years.
From the opening up of the flow of commodities and factors to the opening up of systems such as rules. In the past 20 years, From joining the World Trade Organization to promoting the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", from participating in global economic governance to promoting the new mechanism of improving global economic governance, China has proposed and practiced "building a community with a shared future for mankind" and become an important promoter of economic globalization. Compared with the beginning of reform and opening up, the dependence of building a new development pattern on high-level and institutional-type opening up has been comprehensively enhanced. First, the focus of opening up shifted from trade in goods to trade in services, requiring the promotion of a flow-oriented opening up based on ensuring the free flow of commodities and factors to a rule-oriented institutional opening up; second, to adapt to high-standard international economic and trade rules, opening measures need to be extended from tariff reductions and other measures to rules, regulations, management, standards and other measures; third, economic globalization is in a period of rule restructuring and adjustment, as the world's second largest economic power, China needs to expand its influence on the global multilateral rule framework through institutional opening-up. Jointly safeguard and promote the reform of the world multilateral trading system.
Opening up to the outside world has profoundly changed China and affected the world
Since the beginning of reform and opening up, especially since joining the World Trade Organization, China has actively integrated into the world economy and persisted in promoting reform and development through opening up, which has not only released great development potential, promoted rapid economic growth, but also reshaped its position in the global economic pattern.
China is the world's most potential market, and it is and will be. At present, all parties have different estimates of China's market potential. To objectively judge China's market potential, we need to see short-term problems and contradictions, and we need to analyze the medium- and long-term potential and trends. Objectively speaking, China is still in a critical period of economic transformation and upgrading, facing greater pressure in the short term, but there is great potential in the medium and long term. Taking consumption as an example, in August 2021, the growth rate of total retail sales of consumer goods in China was as low as 2.5%; although the growth rate rebounded to 4.9% in October, it was still significantly lower than the growth rate of 7.2% in October 2019. In the short term, the consumer market is facing greater challenges in resuming growth. In the medium and long term, the consumer market has great potential. In 2020, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China were 5.68 trillion US dollars, which was 97.6% of the same period in the United States. If calculated according to the average growth rate in the past five years, it is estimated that by 2022, the total retail sales of consumer goods in China will reach 6.06 trillion US dollars, which may surpass the United States to become the world's largest retail market for consumer goods. More importantly, with the economic and social transformation and upgrading, there is huge room for growth in service-oriented consumption of Chinese residents. It is estimated that by 2035, the proportion of residents' service-oriented consumption is likely to increase from 42.6% in 2020 to about 60%, resulting in trillions of dollars in consumption increases. The release of China's market potential is a major positive for the global market. Under the background of further deep integration with the world economy, the release of China's strong market demand potential will make new contributions to the stability and growth of the global economy.
China is an important promoter of an open world economy, and it is and will be. Since joining the World Trade Organization, China has become the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions. In the face of unprecedented changes in a century, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that "we must stand on the right side of history, adhere to multilateralism and democratization of international relations, plan development with an open, cooperative and win-win mindset, unswervingly promote economic globalization in the direction of openness, inclusiveness, inclusiveness, balance and win-win results, and promote the construction of an open world economy." Practice has fully shown that China's promotion of the construction of a high-level open economic system is conducive to fully releasing market potential and vitality, is conducive to deep integration into the global economy, and promotes the construction of an open world economy. China's initiative to apply for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a major measure to build a high-level open world economy and reflects China's determination and action to promote the formation of a more open global market. Proceeding from the responsibilities of major countries, China strives to advocate that all countries maintain the overall situation of economic globalization, adhere to multilateralism, actively promote the process of multilateral and bilateral free trade, and play an irreplaceable role in improving global governance. China has achieved important results in promoting high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road", not only actively promoting the landing of specific projects, but also taking the initiative to initiate the establishment of the Aiibir Bank and the Silk Road Fund, and actively providing open and cooperative global public goods. As of October 2020, the Silk Road Fund has signed a total of 47 projects with a committed investment amount of US$17.8 billion, providing investment and financing support for economic and trade cooperation and multilateral bilateral connectivity within the framework of the "Belt and Road". At the same time, the promotion of extensive cooperation between countries and regions along the route in infrastructure, manufacturing, service industry, energy resources and other fields has injected new impetus into boosting the regional economy and promoting world economic growth.
China is the "main engine" of global economic growth, and it is and will be. China's opening up to the outside world not only benefits itself, but also plays an important role in promoting world economic growth. Since 2002, the average contribution rate of our country to world economic growth has been close to 30 per cent. Since 2006, China's contribution rate to world economic growth has ranked first in the world for 15 consecutive years. As the world's most potential large market with a population of more than 1.4 billion and more than 400 million middle-income groups, China's high-level opening up to promote the construction of a new development pattern is not only of decisive significance for its own high-quality development, but also has a significant and positive impact on world economic growth and stability. In 2020, under the severe impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, China is the only country in the world's major economies to achieve positive growth, contributing 30% to global economic growth, and it is expected that the contribution rate to world economic growth will reach more than 25% in 2021, and the contribution rate to world economic growth in the next 5 years is still expected to remain at 25%-30%, which is an important stabilizer and power source for global economic growth.
Create a high-level, institutional pattern of opening up to the outside world
Entering a new stage of development, China's creation of a high-level and institutional pattern of opening up to the outside world has distinct characteristics of the times: to build a new development pattern of domestic and international dual circulation as the basic requirement, to promote the process of free trade as a strategic goal, to develop trade in services as a major task, to build a new highland of high-level opening up to the outside world as an important breakthrough, to institutional opening up as a prominent feature, and to build a high-level socialist market economic system as an important guarantee.
Promote high-level and institutional-type opening up with the guidance of expanding domestic demand. Entering a new stage of development, the basic guiding role of expanding domestic demand in leading high-level opening up has been fully highlighted. On the one hand, the upgrading of domestic consumption structure has generated more demand for the world's diversified and high-quality products and services. It is estimated that by 2030, China's cumulative imports of goods are expected to exceed 22 trillion US dollars. On the other hand, with the full and deep integration of China's economy into the world, releasing the domestic demand potential of more than 1.4 billion people and promoting the transformation and upgrading of the economic structure, it is necessary to integrate into the international economic cycle with a higher level of openness. The high-level opening up with the expansion of domestic demand as the basic orientation is to take the initiative to promote the formation of an important driving force for releasing the potential of the large market of more than 1.4 billion people, realize the connection between the internal and external markets, share factor resources, and build a more open domestic and international double cycle.
Focus on trade in services to build a new system of high-level open economy. At present, trade in services has become an important driving force for global free trade and economic growth, and it is also the focus of China's promotion of high-level opening up. Building a new pattern of higher-level openness and cooperation with the focus on trade in services is the key to accelerating the establishment of a new system of high-level open economy, a major measure to give full play to China's super-large-scale market advantages and release the potential of domestic demand for economic transformation and upgrading, and a major task to build a new development pattern. This requires accelerating the process of opening up the service industry to the outside world. Under the background of the direct integration of the opening of the service market and the development of trade in services, we will accelerate the breaking of market monopolies and administrative monopolies in the service industry, promote the opening of monopoly industries to social capital, and promote the optimization and structural adjustment of the layout of state-owned capital in the service industry. Strengthen institutional arrangements for the freedom and facilitation of trade in services, for example, accelerate the formulation and implementation of a negative list of cross-border trade in services, reduce and lower "post-border" barriers; form international trade standards for trade in services in line with international standards, and improve the international level of service supervision. For example, in the Hainan Free Trade Port, a negative list of cross-border trade in services that is basically similar to the level of opening up of trade in services under the CPTPP, and the integrated management of the negative list of foreign investment access and the negative list of cross-border trade in services is explored to provide a stress test for China's access to the CPTPP.
Promote institutional change with a high level and institutional openness. Opening up is the biggest reform, deepening reform in a high level of opening up, the key is to establish a high-standard market economy system, the core is to deepen the reform of the factor market, give full play to the decisive role of the market in the allocation of resources, and better play the role of the government. Accelerate the opening up of the service industry market; deepen the reform of factor marketization; accelerate the reform of the talent management system, establish a people-oriented incentive mechanism for scientific and technological innovation; protect the legitimate rights and interests of entrepreneurs, give full play to the important role of entrepreneurs in the optimal allocation of resources; adapt to the development of the digital economy to define the property rights of data elements and promote the marketization of data elements; create a market-oriented, rule-of-law, and international business environment, effectively reduce unnecessary administrative intervention; improve the effectiveness of market supervision, and promote regulatory reform in the process of opening up Accelerate the improvement of the fair competition review system and accelerate the establishment of a service industry market supervision system that is in line with advanced international standards.
Guangming Daily ( 2021.12.08 13th edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily