On January 15, 2015, the journal Qiushi published a signed article by Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, titled “Grasp the World Situation and Promote the Level of Opening—Understanding of Studying and Implementing Important Speeches of General Secretary Xi Jinping”. The full context is as follows:
Grasp the World Situation and Promote the Level of Opening—Understanding of Studying and Implementing Important Speeches by General Secretary Xi Jinping
General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed at the 19th collective learning of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on December 5 that “Opening brings progress and seclusion leads to backwardness” and “Get the initiative of economic development and international competition through opening up actively”; he also pointed out that “History told us that to gain development and prosperity, a country must grasp and follow the world’s development trend, otherwise, it will be abandoned by history”, and “ In order to stick to and develop socialism with Chinese characteristics, we must stick to our own road and follow the world's trends”. Through deeply understanding the spirit of these speeches of General Secretary Xi Jinping, we must grasp the world’s trends, advance with the times, bravely take responsibilities, stick to the basic state policy of opening up, and continuously expand opening up and promote the level of opening up, to realize the China Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the trend of globalization.
Grasp the General Situation of Economic Globalization and Strive for the Initiative of Opening up
Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that “We should correctly grasp the new trends of economic globalization and new requirements of China’s opening up”, and “make efforts to control the advantage and win the initiative of economic globalization”, “We have made a general deployment for comprehensively deepening reform, one of the focus of which is to carry out the all-around and multi-layered international cooperation with a more optimized and dynamic open economic system, so as to expand benefits integration and win-win with all countries and regions”. The thesis not only pointed out that we must follow the trend of globalization at a high level, but also indicated confidently the overall direction of China’s further opening up.
The process of globalization could not be changed. Entering into the new century, the popularization of information technology and the deepening of the global value chain have become important driving forces of economic globalization, and the interdependence and interests’ integration among countries has been further deepened. All countries have promoted their own development through expanding opening up, in order to avoid marginalization. After the financial crisis, protectionism picked up once, but economic globalization still moved forward in the twists and turns. The two wheels that drive globalization presented new features of “multilateral slow but regional fast”, and the Doha Rounds have been conducted for 13 years, and their conclusion still cannot be expected. The main developed economies changed over to new ways, and tried to exploit new ways of opening up through constructing high-level FTA network, in order to make rules and demonstrations for the future and seek commanding height of competition and initiative of development.
Opening up is the only way to grasp the opportunities of globalization. The current world is open, and the global economy is also open. In 1980s, we grasped the opportunities of the world industrial revolution, and actively took part in economic globalization through reform and opening up, especially entering into the WTO, and our comprehensive national strength made a large step forward. Currently, the third industrial revolution or “industrialization 4.0” is approaching, and we are facing a god-given opportunity. Just as Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that the historic opportunity is transient and we are facing the important opportunity to promote scientific and technological innovation. Such an opportunity must not be missed, and lost time is never found again, therefore we must grasp the opportunity to maintain and lengthen China’s period of strategic opportunity. Objectively, China’s opening up possesses great potential. In 2013, our trade in service was only 1/2 of that of the U.S., and the stock of direct foreign investment was only 1/10 of that of the U.S., and 1/3 of that of the UK and Germany. According to the studies of the Development Research Center of the State Council, the level of China’s opening up is still lower than the average level of the whole world. To realize our goals of “two centenaries”, we should actively take part in globalization, and make our economy and society more open.
A higher-level opening up should be promoted. The Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee has made a strategic deployment for comprehensively deepening reform and proposed to construct a new open economic system. To promote a new round of opening up at the new historical start is our historic responsibility to take on. We should strengthen the top-level design and strategic layout of opening up, build consensus on opening up, increase confidence in opening up, clarify the thought, promote ability and actively grasp the initiative of opening up, in order to create a new round of bonus of opening up. In terms of the principles of opening up, we should stick to planning inside and outside as a whole and give consideration to both current and long-term benefits; we should seize well the tempo, strength and order of opening up, strive for interests for China’s development according to the demands of domestic reform and development; we should adhere to cooperation and win-win, being the propeller of economic globalization, practitioner of trade and investment liberalization, participant maker of international rules and builder of a harmonious world. In terms of the priorities of opening up, we should promote the construction of the Belt and Road, expand the opening up of inland and border areas, and promote the forming of a higher-level opening pattern. We should relax restrictions on investment access, and promote orderly opening up of the service industry like finance, education, culture and medical care. We should adhere to bilateral, multilateral, regional and sub-regional opening cooperation, and speed up the construction of FTAs, in order to form a high standard FTA network facing the whole world.
Grasp the world change trend and promote reform through opening up better
Comrade Xi stressed that, “Making a general survey of the world, we could find out that reform represents the general trend and the popular sentiment, as well as the majestic historical trend. Currently, all the countries are speeding up their reform and a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial reform is rising”, “it is an important weapon for our country to gain new development achievements continuously. ” During the development process, though the old conflicts were resolved, new conflicts would still come into being. Introducing external vitalities with an open mind will be condusive to resolving all kinds of difficulties during the reform process.
The current world is in the era of revolution. At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial reform is undergoing, with revolutionary breakthrough in the fields of electronic information, new energy, biology and new materials appearing at any time and new types of business like intelligent factories, internet finance, distributed energy resource, distance education and medical care springing up. This will give rise to profound changes of international competition and pattern of division, and urge major countries to speed up self adjustment and reform. The U.S. government is trying to reform and is pushing forward with a series of reforms in financial supervision and medical care system, implementing projects including “redoubling export” and “making manufacturing backflow”, in order to keep the leading role in global economy. Japan is implementing structural reform and ultra-loose monetary policy, and combating with a severely aging population. Europe is reforming welfare systems and labor markets, and committing to the balance of fiscal restraint and economic growth. Facing the world trend of revolution, we must take advantage of this trend, and reform ourselves, so as to grasp the initiative. We should follow closely the world revolution, and promote system reform and industrial upgrading through opening up, so as to strive for the strategic initiative of global competition.
Opening up is the power urgently needed by comprehensively deepening reform. Comrade Xi pointed out that, China’s reform has stepped into the hard time and abyssal region, so we should not take measures without attention to the changes and work blindly. Retrospecting the 36 years of reform and opening up, reform and opening up has been the two driving forces of our development. They are twins, reform created a system foundation and internal conditions for opening up, and opening up is also reform, providing experience reference and vitality fountain for reform. The “hard bones” of reform need a higher level of opening up to strengthen reform motivation. 70% of the 60 reform tasks in the Decisions of the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee could be driven by opening up, such as promoting the modernization of national governance, strengthening the decision role of the market, transforming government functions, building China with rule of law, promoting fair competition and constructing a national innovation system. Comprehensively inspecting China’s reform and development, opening up is not passive, but China’s intrinsic requirements. There is no way out without opening up, nor is there a way out without advancing of opening up.
Strength should be increased to promote reform through opening up. We should learn from foreign advanced ideas, rules, technologies and management experience, in order to promote the modernization of the national governance system and ability. We should grasp the opportunities of relaying out industries around the globe, and cultivate new advantages of international economic competition. We should actively conduct foreign consultations, and expand market access through obeying rules or fulfilling commitments, and promote reform of state-owned enterprises, the investment system and related industries, the service industry in particular. We should pay more attention to play the effect of foreign investment of technology spillover and comprehensive driving, unify laws and regulations of domestic and foreign investment, and speed up the draft of the “three laws” of foreign investment, in order to create a law-based and internationalized business environment. We should speed up “going out”, and promote the ability of international operation. We should transform development modes of foreign trade, innovate patterns of processing trade, encourage enterprises to form new advantages of technology, brands, quality and service, and quicken the transformation from “manufacturing” to “creating” and “intelligent making”. We should do a good job in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, accumulate new experience of reform and opening up, and achieve “no pause in reform and no stop in opening up”.
Grasp the general trend of mutual learning among civilizations and infuse more Chinese elements into international trade and economic rules
Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out that, “We should stick to the spirit of inclusiveness, and promote the mutual inclusiveness of different social systems, mutual learning of different cultures and civilizations, and mutual benefit of different development modes”, “We should actively take part in the formulation of international trade and economic rules, and strive for the institutional power of global economic governance”, “We should not be a spectator and follower, but should be a participant and leader.” At present, international trade and economic rules are facing a new round of reconstruction, and we should grasp the opportunities, contributing more “Chinese wisdom” to international trade and economic rules.
The historical trend of mutual inclusiveness and learning among civilizations could not be stopped. Human civilization is of long standing and magnificent. There have even been the Chinese civilization, Indian civilization, Babylon civilization, Persia civilization and Arab civilization on the Eurasian continent, Egyptian civilization on the African continent and Maya civilization on the American continent, which could be said “Different colors bring out the best in each other and the ensemble of musical notes makes for the song of harmony.” The exchange of different civilizations has promoted the common development of human kind. Entering into the new century, and with the rapid development of information technology and the increasing connection among people, interactions of all kinds of civilizations have become unprecedentedly alive, and the West-centered theory is fading away. There are many essences of international significance of the Chinese civilization that are worthy of inheriting and carrying forward. The Chinese people have advocated harmony in diversity since ancient times, and we have the reasons to believe that it is possible of different countries and civilizations to communicate equally, learn from each other, and develop commonly; people of different countries could share the achievements of the world economy and science and technology, and their will could be respected, so as to promote the construction of a harmonious world of lasting peace and common prosperity.
The civilization elements of the current international economic and trade rules are monotonous. To some extent, international economic and trade rules are the institutional embodiment of the world civilization. Only by absorbing all kinds of achievements of excellent civilizations, could the rules be more inclusive, fair and reasonable. After World War II, the U.S., Britain and France formulated a series of international economic and trade rules, creating a stable international environment objectively, and promoting the development of the world economy. However, these rules mainly represented the western values, considering not enough non-western values and there were unfair and irrational parts. International financial crises also showed obvious defects of international economic governance. For all this, developing countries was active to strive for legitimate rights and interests. After repeatedly gambling, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development was established in 1964, special and differential treatment articles of the WTO reached 145, and the Doha Round was called the Development Round. In climate and environment negotiations, developing countries undertook the “common but different” obligations, adding larger “developing elements” to international economic rules, and making it more reasonable. There is obvious “increase in the South and decrease in the North” of the current international economic pattern, and international economic rules are facing restructuring. The developed countries are trying to lead and guide a new round of rules, and developing countries are also seeking greater discourse power. The rules restructuring process will be a process of arduous gambling of different interest demands, and crashing and exchange of different civilizations and ideas. As long as emerging economies and developing countries are initiative, the international economic rules would further increase “developing elements” and “non-western elements”, and develop to a fair and reasonable direction.
More Chinese voice should be given out in the formulation of international rules. Fight for rules is fight for right of development, and also fight for system and leading power. Chinese economy is of great mass, and we could not be an elephant hiding behind the ants, nor could we bury our head into the sand like an ostrich. We should increase our confidence in system and culture, be initiative to seize the commanding height, and scheme a rule system that will benefit us. At the same time when studying, obeying and using the current rules, we should closely follow the development trend of the rules, and participate in high-level rules negotiations to strive for embodying Chinese ideology in international rules. In terms of those territories that accord to China’s reform and development, we could take part in with a constructive attitude, and combine them with the process of comprehensively deepening reform. As for those controversial rules that would benefit us in long-term, we could cooperate with the developing countries that we have more common interests with, to give out “Southern voice” actively. For those territories that China has comparative advantages in, we should put forward Chinese plans, and increase capability of participating in international economic governance.
Seize the common trend of security and regard maintaining economic security as “new normal”
Comrade Xi Jinping stressed that “We should stick to the general national security concept, and walk out a national security road with Chinese characteristics.” “We should not only pay attention to our own security, but also attach importance to common security, and forge a community of fate”, “the new concept of comprehensive security, common security and cooperation security should be initiated actively.” Economic security is the foundation of the national security, and how to maintain the national economic security under the opening up conditions has become a major issue. We should set up an open economic security concept, and seek security while expanding opening up.
Seeking common security has become a common sense in the world. The deepening development of economic globalization, broadening of the global value chain, interdependency of different economies, “rise or fall together”, and the easy transmission of economic risks among countries, make economic security reciprocal, systematic and global. Although all countries worry about economic security, the overall trend is still more open but not closed. Only if the countries expand mutual liberalization, obey common international rules, increase mutual understanding and cooperation, and reduce hostility and beggar-thy-neighbor, the risks could be prevented jointly. Each one sweeping the snow from his own doorsteps and not bothering about the frost on his neighbor's roofs is impossible. G20 strengthened the coordination of macro policy after the international financial crisis embodied that preventing common risks and maintaining common security is the new trend.
An open economic security concept should be set up. There are both opportunities and challenges, and risks and benefits during the opening up. In the opening up, we should always stick to the doctrine that everything has two aspects, promote the beneficial and abolish the harmful, and change crises to opportunities. The effects of expanding opening up on economic security are two-tiered. It would be more secure because of the strengthening power resulting from opening up, and there are also more risk factors because of the external influences. In general, being open is more secured than seclusion, and we would be more secure when we have power. We should make efforts to realize the organic unification of opening up and economic security, and seek higher-level general security dynamically in expanding opening up. Reviewing the world history, every powerful country is open. Seeing from China’s experience, opening up has increased our economic security obviously, and even the automobile industry which has week competitiveness has enjoyed an obvious progress after China’s entering into the WTO. More opening up brings more development, and vice versa. Opening up is not a makeshift, but a long-term task, which will accompany the whole process of national rejuvenation. Of course, our opening up is not blind. We should grasp the strength, degree and process of the opening up independently, and do well in coordination between inside and outside situations. We have the courage to open up but the risks must be controlled, and we open the widow but the screen window should be installed. The initiative of opening up must be grasped firmly.
The guarantee capability of economic security should be strengthened. Comrade Xi Jinping stressed that “we should stick to the bottom line and pay attention to the prevention of risks”. We should defend our core interests, and should not make a concession on issues concerning sensitive issues which would probably hit the red line of the socialist system, the leadership of the Communist Party of China and national security. We should not trade for principles. We should speed up the cultivation of new advantages of international competition, expand soft and hard power, and make the foundation of economic security solid. We should take the security work as the priority, with prevention first and emergency as the complementary. We should optimize the mechanism of anti-monopoly and safety review, and strengthen the coping mechanism of economic and trade disputes. We should adopt comprehensive measures to maintain the security of food, resources and energy, overseas assets and personnel, cope with non-traditional security like climate, ecology, environment protection and intellectual property, seize the security points of finance and network information, and promote the capacity of emergency responding, unswervingly maintaining China’s state sovereignty, security and development interests.
Comrade Xi Jinping stressed that “If we know little or nothing about the world trend, we could not grasp the tempo of the time, nor could our cause further be extended.” The commercial departments are at the leading edge of the world trend and opening up. We should deeply study the domestic and foreign trends, promote reform and development through opening up more initiatively and make more contributions to realizing the goal of “Two Centenaries” more consciously.
