Reviewing China’s development from reform and opening up to becoming the “world’s factory” that sends products to every corner of the world and the “world’s market” that brings together excellent market players across the world, we can find that China’s integration into the world and contribution to the world has accelerated. Joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) became a milestone in China’s development, marking that its opening up entered a fast track of history.

At 18:39 on November 10, 2001, local time, a rap of gavel at the WTO’s Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, declared China’s accession to the global trade body. Since then, a large developing country with nearly one-fifth of the world’s population has been deeply engaged in economic globalization. History and practice have proven that China’s “entry into the WTO” follows the logic of historical progress and the trend of the times, and creates a win-win situation between China and the world.

Over the past 20 years, China has witnessed booming development and made remarkable achievements. Its average annual contribution to global economic growth approaches 30%; the economic aggregate has risen from the sixth place to the second place; trade in goods has increased from the sixth place to the first place; trade in services has grew from the eleventh place to the second place in the world; it has ranked first among developing countries in terms of utilization of foreign funds and has risen from the 26th place to the first place in the world in terms of outbound direct investment... The rise in the rankings is witness to Chinese people’s footprints of painstaking efforts and indomitable struggle.

Over the past 20 years, China has always honored its commitments and realized mutual assistance with the rest of the world. The entry of a large economic power with more than one billion people into the WTO has greatly expanded the development space for global trade and injected huge momentum into economic globalization. Relying on its industrial advantages and resources, China has significantly reduced production costs and prices of consumer products, and made outstanding contributions to improving people’s well-being worldwide. Over the past 20 years, from learning and integration to participation and leading, China has opened the door of opening-up wider and stimulated the development of world economy through its own development.

Over the past 20 years, China has actively integrated itself into world economy and won development opportunities by opening up to the outside world. It has fully fulfilled its WTO commitments, and cut overall tariff from 15.3% to 7.4%, lower than the commitment of 9.8%. In the field of service, it promised to open up 100 sub-sectors in 9 categories in 2007, but actually opened nearly 120 sub-sectors. On the basis of fulfilling commitments, China has continuously introduced new measures, such as issuing the negative list for cross-border service trade at Hainan Free Trade Port, continuously promoting reform and innovation of the free trade pilot zone, continuously relaxing access for foreign investment and continuously improving the business environment. Opening up has become a distinctive symbol of contemporary China.

Integrating into world economy is the big trend of history. To develop its economy, China should have the courage to swim in the vast ocean of the global market. Despite the whirlpools, winds and waves, it has learned how to swim in swimming. Opening up will bring mutual progress, while isolation will result in retrogression of both sides. From regional opening up to all-round opening up, from the opening up of factor mobility to institutional opening up, from self-opening to mutual opening with trading partners, opening up gives China a broad view and multi-faceted resilience. China has declared to the world with actions that only with opening up and connectivity can we resist the storm together.

Over the past 20 years, China has been forging ahead and has won the initiative in competition by participating in globalization. It has followed the big trend of globalization, expanded and deepened integration into the international circulation, thus becoming a beneficiary of booming trade, convenient investment, great flow of people and tremendous technological progress, as well as an important contributor to economic globalization. It is in the process of embracing the big trend of the times that China has built the world’s largest, most comprehensive and most complete manufacturing system, and become an indispensable part of the global supply chain, industry chain and value chain. Today, China has become the world’s second largest import market for 12 consecutive years. The Chinese market is gradually becoming “the world’s market”, “a market shared by all” and “a market for everyone.”

Over the past 20 years, China has shouldered responsibilities and promoted global development by defending multilateralism. It abides by international trade rules and actively upholds the multilateral trading system with the WTO at the core. From actively joining multilateral platforms such as the G20 to proposing to establish multilateral institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank of BRICS, from advancing Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership to promoting high-quality construction of the “Belt and Road” Initiative, China has always been committed to promoting global economic development through multilateralism. Yi Xiaozhun, Former Deputy Director-General of the WTO, said that China is not only a beneficiary of but also a contributor to the multilateral trading system.

Over the past 20 years, China has been striving to help others succeed while achieving its own success, and sharing development opportunities with the world through mutually beneficial cooperation. In China today, the value of goods entering and leaving the country every minute reaches RMB 60 million; there are more than 1 million foreign-funded enterprises here; in the face of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade volume of goods between China and countries along the “Belt and Road” hit US$ 1.35 trillion in 2020; the number of China-Europe Railway Express trains exceeds the “ten thousand” mark for the first time... These numbers reflect China’s important position and breadth of seeking mutual benefits and win-win results with the world.

Ancient Chinese observed, “One can tell the inside of a thing by observing its outside and see the future development by reviewing the past.” Standing on a new starting point, China will grasp the big trend of economic globalization, continue to develop with the world with the mind of openness and the wisdom of seeking changes, jointly build an open world economy, and create a better future for human.

 

Author: Fan Yu from Xinhua News Agency