Zhang Erzhen: Promote reform through opening up and promote Chinese-style modernization

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) put forward that opening up is a clear sign of Chinese-style modernization. We must adhere to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world, persist in promoting reform through opening-up, rely on the advantages of the mainland's super-large-scale market, enhance the ability of opening up in the process of expanding international cooperation, and build a new system of a higher-level open economy. The plenary session also made specific arrangements for steadily expanding institutional opening-up, deepening the reform of the foreign trade system, deepening the reform of the foreign investment and foreign investment management system, optimizing the layout of regional opening-up, and improving the mechanism for promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. It is necessary to conscientiously study and deeply understand the spirit of the plenum, improve the system and mechanism of high-level opening-up, and promote Chinese-style modernization with high-level opening-up.

Openness is a clear sign of Chinese modernization

"Openness is a clear sign of Chinese modernization." This is not only a scientific summary of the mainland's socialist modernization since the reform and opening up, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, but also a scientific guide for the Chinese-style modernization in the new era. Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, we have always adhered to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world and fully integrated into the international division of labor system. Through import and export trade, the use of foreign capital, and foreign direct investment, we have made full use of both international and domestic markets and resources, and achieved rapid economic growth. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has embarked on a new journey of high-level opening up in the new era. The structure of foreign trade has been further optimized, and new products, new forms of business and new subjects have stimulated new momentum for the mainland's foreign trade. New products represented by the "new three" are going global, new business formats represented by cross-border e-commerce are springing up, and new subjects represented by private enterprises are booming. The quality and efficiency of trade in goods have been steadily improved, trade in services has developed steadily, the use of foreign capital has continued to grow, and foreign direct investment has developed rapidly. China has achieved a historic transformation from integrating into economic globalization to promoting globalization and even leading globalization. Practice has fully proved that reform and opening up is an important magic weapon for the cause of the party and the people to catch up with the times in great strides.

After the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China embarked on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, and at the same time, the external environment has undergone great changes. The world is undergoing major changes unseen in a century, the trend of anti-globalization is rising, and unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise, but the general trend of economic globalization is irreversible. It should be noted that economic globalization is undergoing new changes, and its main characteristics are: the world economic pattern is showing a trend of multipolar development, a new round of technological revolution represented by digital technology has formed a new driving force for the development of globalization, the global economic governance system is facing new changes, new changes have taken place in the division of labor in the global value chain, and the development paradigm of economic globalization has undergone fundamental changes. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that if China wants to develop, it must conform to the trend of world development. What is the general trend of world development? It is the general trend of human society seeking peace and development. What is the trend of world development? It is the right path for all countries in the world to achieve win-win cooperation and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

"Reform will not stop, opening up will not stop", "China's door to opening up will not be closed, it will only open wider and wider". China's building of a high-level moderately prosperous society has been achieved under open conditions, and Chinese-style modernization can only be carried out under more open conditions. Chinese-style modernization not only follows the general laws of modernization and draws on the experience of other countries' modernization, but also has distinctive Chinese characteristics of modernization, and contributes Chinese wisdom to other countries, especially developing countries. Actively respond to the common concerns of the people of all countries, create a new form of human civilization, and contribute to solving the common problems facing mankind. China's development cannot be separated from the world, and the world's prosperity also needs China. Chinese modernization expands the path options for developing countries to modernize, and provides a Chinese solution for mankind's exploration of a better social system.

Promote deepening reform and promote Chinese-style modernization by expanding opening up

"Promoting reform and development through opening up is a successful practice of the mainland's reform and development." The mainland's shift from a planned economy to a socialist market economy is closely linked to the continuous expansion of opening up to the outside world. At the beginning of reform and opening up, when we opened the door to the country, the first thing we encountered was that the planned economic system was "incompatible" with the market economic system, and the planned economic management methods were "not in sync" with international rules. In the course of gradually opening wider to the outside world, we have "learned by doing," learned from foreign advanced technology and management experience, and gradually established a socialist market economic system that conforms to international practice and suits our own national conditions in the light of China's actual conditions. Promoting deepening reform by expanding opening up and deepening reform to promote opening up is not only one of the regular understandings of the Party's economic work in the new era, but also the winning way to unswervingly write a new chapter of Chinese-style modernization by further deepening reform in an all-round way on the new journey.

The key to promoting in-depth reform and high-level opening up in an overall way is to organically integrate the improvement of the socialist market economic system with the building of a new open economic system. The Third Plenary Session of the 20 th CPC Central Committee made systematic arrangements for this. The plenary session stressed the need to adhere to the basic national policy of opening up to the outside world and persist in promoting reform through opening up. To a large extent, this is to draw on the experience and lessons of the operation of the market economy system and mechanism in some developed countries, such as "industrial hollowing", "excessive financialization", "extreme distribution differentiation" and other "market failures", so as to better maintain market order, make up for market failures, smooth the circulation of the national economy, and stimulate the endogenous power and innovation vitality of the whole society. The lessons and lessons accumulated by the West over the past several hundred years that reflect the laws governing the general operation of socialized large-scale production and the market economy are of reference significance for us in building a high-level socialist market economic system. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that we have never rejected any experience of other countries' national governance that is conducive to China's development and progress, but insisted on focusing on ourselves and using them for our own use, removing the dross and extracting the essence. The plenum called for the construction of a unified national market and the improvement of the basic system of the market economy, which is in line with the internal requirements of expanding the opening up to the outside world, not only to break down administrative divisions and local barriers, but more importantly, to improve the systems of property rights protection, information disclosure, market access, bankruptcy exit, credit supervision, etc., and to break down the institutional and institutional obstacles that hinder the free flow of factors, and these systems are the cornerstone of the market economy and the basic system of the market economy in any developed market economy country. The plenum proposed to build a system and mechanism to support comprehensive innovation and strengthen international exchanges and cooperation in education, science and technology, and talents, which is also the proper meaning of expanding opening up.

Opening up is also reform. The steady promotion of institutional opening-up deployed by the plenum is itself the content of comprehensive and in-depth reform. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that in accordance with the requirements of building a high-level socialist market economy system and promoting high-level opening up, we should further promote reforms in key areas, promote the construction of a modern infrastructure system and a high-standard market system, and steadily expand institutional opening-up. The core of steadily expanding institutional opening-up is to pay more attention to domestic institutional innovation at the internal level and high-standard international economic and trade rules at the external level while continuing to do a good job in opening up the mobility of commodities and factors. Specifically, the approach of institutional opening-up mainly includes aligning with international high-standard economic and trade rules, deepening the opening up of financial and telecommunication services, improving the liberalization of trade in goods and customs clearance facilitation, implementing high-standard digital trade rules, strengthening the protection of intellectual property rights, promoting the reform of government procurement, and promoting the reform of the "post-border" management system, etc. In short, by deepening reforms in key areas and key links, and strengthening the docking with international rules, we aim to form a more open, competitive and orderly market environment, and promote the construction of an open world economy while reshaping our own advantages in open development. It can be seen that reform and opening up are inseparable and mutually reinforcing. It is necessary to persist in promoting deepening reform through expanding opening up and promoting greater opening up through deepening reform.

Deepening the reform of the foreign trade system, deepening the reform of the foreign investment and foreign investment management system, optimizing the layout of regional opening-up, and improving the mechanism for promoting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation are not only the tasks of reform, but also the measures to expand opening-up. Expand unilateral opening to the least developed countries, expand independent opening-up, orderly expand the opening up of commodity markets, service markets, capital markets, labor markets, etc., improve the living convenience systems for overseas personnel entering the country, medical care, payment, etc., coordinate the promotion of major landmark projects and "small but beautiful" livelihood projects, and jointly build the "Belt and Road" with high quality, so that China's large market will become a great opportunity for the world, so that the achievements of Chinese-style modernization will benefit both the Chinese and the people of the world, Make due contributions to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Source: Mass Magazine Issue 14, 2024

Author: Zhang Erzhen (The author is a professor at the School of Marxism, Nanjing University, and a special researcher at the Jiangsu Xi Jinping Research Center for Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)

Editor in charge: He Le