Original title: Promote the development of new productive forces with high-level opening up
The development of new quality productive forces is an important propeller for the realization of Chinese-style modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that "we must continue to expand high-level opening up, deeply participate in the global industrial division of labor and cooperation, and make good use of domestic and international resources" and "create a good international environment for the development of new quality productive forces", pointing out the direction for promoting the development of new quality productive forces with high-level opening up. To speed up the formation of new quality productive forces, the key is to find the right focus. From the perspective of the logic that the productive forces determine the relations of production and the relations of production react on the productive forces under certain conditions, the changes in the new types of production relations, such as institutional reform, institutional reform, and the allocation of production factors, involved in high-level opening up, are the proper meaning of enhancing the internal kinetic energy of the new quality productive forces.
A high level of opening up to the outside world will enable the whole world to share the dividends of the development of new productive forces
To develop new quality productive forces, China cannot do without exchanges and cooperation with the world. As far as China is concerned, promoting high-level opening-up can make full use of the resources of both domestic and foreign markets in terms of breadth and depth, and gather high-tech talents and high-quality capital for the vigorous development of new productive forces. On the one hand, through high-level opening-up, all parts of the mainland have continuously guided the world's advanced and high-quality human capital to gather in key regions, and initially formed the talent agglomeration effect of open economic development. On the other hand, through a high-level opening-up and a good and stable policy environment, we will attract global high-quality capital to deploy heavily in the Chinese market. According to data from the Ministry of Commerce, from January to February 2024, the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises in the country reached the highest level since 2019, a year-on-year increase of 34.9%, and 1,865 new foreign-invested enterprises in high-tech industries, a year-on-year increase of 32.2%.
With the development of new quality productive forces, the world is constantly sharing the opportunities and dividends of China's development. On the one hand, through high-level opening-up, it has provided new opportunities for foreign-funded enterprises to share the fruits of China's new productive forces. A higher level of opening-up enables foreign-funded enterprises to take advantage of China's most complete industrial supporting system and integration advantages, abundant human resources and rapidly increasing innovation vitality, and share China's high-tech development prospects and huge potential supermarkets. On the other hand, through high-level opening-up, China has provided the world with high-quality talents, capital and institutional elements. For example, in terms of capital, the mainland's industry-wide foreign direct investment in 2023 will be 1,041.85 billion yuan, an increase of 5.7% over the previous year. In terms of institutions, China has promoted the Belt and Road Initiative, actively joined high-standard free trade agreements such as the RCEP, provided public goods and other institutional elements to the world, and shared the dividends of China's new productive productivity development with the world.
Opportunities and challenges faced by high-level opening up to the outside world to promote the development of new productive forces
The average global manufacturing PMI in the first quarter of 2024 was 49.6%, higher than the average of 47.9% in the fourth quarter of last year. In 2023, the total import and export volume between the mainland and the other 14 RCEP member countries will increase by 5.3% compared with 2021 before the agreement came into effect, and the scale of imports and exports with the Belt and Road partners and the ratio of the total foreign trade of the mainland to the mainland are the highest levels since the initiative was proposed. The construction of various open platforms is developing well, and it will surely provide more opportunities for promoting the development of new productive forces with high-level opening up in a broader space. By the end of 2023, the State Council had established 165 comprehensive pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce and 22 pilot free trade zones (ports). The deployment and implementation of the construction of the pilot free trade zone and the cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone demonstrate China's determination and confidence in adhering to a high level of opening up, which will surely bring together more high-end talents and better production factors, and bring more opportunities to promote the development of new quality productivity.
There are also many challenges in promoting new productive forces through high-level opening up. On the one hand, the "decoupling and chain breaking" crackdown in the United States has led to external uncertainty in the development of new productive forces. On the other hand, in promoting high-level opening up, China is still facing many factors that hinder the rapid formation of new productive forces. For example, the domestic management system and rules and systems cannot quickly adapt to and lead the new changes and trends of international economic and trade rules, and it is necessary to further deepen institutional innovation; China's voice in the global economic system is not enough to lead the adjustment of unreasonable and unfair international economic and trade rules. There are not enough landmark achievements of original, forward-looking, and disruptive scientific and technological innovation, and there is still a gap between them and the international advanced level in some frontier fields, and so on.
The key path to promote the development of new productive forces with a high level of opening up
Gradually expand institutional opening-up. With the goal of creating a market-oriented, law-based and international first-class business environment, we should give full play to the role of pilot free trade zones (ports) and the network of high-standard free trade zones facing the world as important carriers for deepening reform and expanding opening-up, take the initiative to connect with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and promote accession to the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Strengthen the function of institutional innovation, have the courage to benchmark against advanced international rules, and explore the direction and focus of institutional innovation to promote breakthroughs in key technologies. We will continue to expand the scope of institutional opening-up such as rules, regulations, management, and standards, improve the construction of a market system that is in line with export-oriented, and promote the docking and integration of domestic and foreign regulations, so as to provide institutional guarantees for the formation of new quality productive forces.
Actively participate in international rule-making. A low level of opening-up means that we can only passively accept international economic and trade rules, while the core goal of a sustained high-level opening-up is to build a more just and reasonable system of international rules that meets the needs of all human development. We will give full play to the role of international cooperation platforms such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the BRICS and the RCEP, and continue to refine China's solutions and contribute China's wisdom in the process of actively participating in global governance. In emerging industries such as the digital economy and the green economy, we will actively explore and formulate regional high-level trade rules, and enhance the mainland's voice in the global industrial chain, supply chain and innovation chain rule system by virtue of the core competitiveness advantages of new industries. China will fully and deeply participate in the reform of the World Trade Organization, promote the construction of an open world economy, continuously enhance the influence of the mainland, and promote economic globalization in the direction of cooperation and win-win results under the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind.
Build a solid foundation for a unified domestic market. A unified domestic market is the basis for China to form a "conjugate circulation" and promote the formation of a new development pattern, and it is the ballast stone for communicating domestic and foreign markets. High-level opening up should first be based on promoting the construction of a unified domestic market, forming a unified domestic market system and rules, lowering institutional barriers to domestic market connectivity, and unleashing market vitality. On the premise of promoting the free circulation and smooth flow of various elements, we will promote the high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure and realize the specialization, informatization and large-scale development of logistics. At the same time, we will actively promote the integration of domestic and foreign trade, achieve more efficient connection between domestic and foreign markets, promote the sustainable development of domestic and international markets, create a good domestic business environment, and create basic conditions for promoting the generation of new quality productivity.
Strengthen foreign cooperation in scientific and technological innovation. In the era of globalized economic development, the exchange and cooperation of science and technology is an important path for the formation of new quality productive forces. On the basis of adhering to independent innovation, we should actively participate in international original and disruptive scientific and technological innovation, and integrate more inclusively into the scientific and technological innovation network of important international organizations in the world. With major international R&D tasks as the carrier, we encourage domestic powerful R&D institutions, enterprises, colleges and universities, and consulting institutions to go abroad, take the initiative to connect with international cutting-edge scientific research platforms, deeply integrate industry, university and research to form an international industry-university-research cooperation system, and jointly tackle major scientific plans and projects. At the same time, we will give full play to the advantages of China's super-large market scale, support multinational companies with high-level R&D centers to invest in China's scientific and technological innovation fields based on the development of new quality productive forces, give full play to the spillover effect of scientific and technological innovation agglomeration, improve the scientific and technological innovation level of local R&D institutions and the transformation efficiency of scientific and technological achievements, and cultivate new momentum for the development of new quality productivity.
(Zhang Jianhua, Li Xiaofeng, Author's Affiliation: School of Economics and Trade, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies)
Source: Nanfang Daily