Vigorously Advancing High-Standard Opening Up

Since the advent of the new era in 2012, President Xi Jinping has made a series of important statements on opening up in the context of both domestic and international imperatives. “Opening up,” he has declared, “is a defining feature of Chinese modernization.” He has emphasized that “the basic state policy of opening to the outside world must be upheld” and that we must “promote high-standard opening up.” At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the Party set out plans for refining the institutions and mechanisms for high-standard opening up.

I. Why should we continue to expand high-standard opening up?

Today, the world’s only sure path to global prosperity and development lies in openness, and economic globalization is an irreversible trend of our time. This has become a point of universal consensus. China must adapt to this development trend. To achieve this, we must have a deep understanding of the great significance of expanding high-standard opening up, and leverage it to facilitate the creation of a new development dynamic that will boost the vitality and reliability of the domestic economy while allowing us to engage in the global economy at a higher level. By proactively advancing opening up, we will be able to seize the initiative in economic development and international competition.

A powerful driver of in-depth reform and high-quality development

Using opening up to spur reform and development has been a vital instrument for China’s continuous development success. Just as opening up has made possible China’s economic growth over the past 40 years, even further opening up will pave the way for high-quality economic development going forward. China’s reform has now moved into a crucial stage and, in a sense, into uncharted waters, with formidable tasks confronting us in key areas and pivotal sectors. By maintaining the correct course in reform and opening up and aligning with international high-standard economic and trade rules, we can refine our socialist market economy to a higher standard and foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized. 

Developing new quality productive forces requires us to optimize the allocation of production factors such as technology, talent, data, and capital. By advancing high-standard opening up, China can seize the tremendous opportunities emerging from the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation in order to introduce advanced global production factors, promote industrial upgrading, and develop new strengths in international cooperation and competition.

A vital pathway for expanding domestic demand and meeting people’s aspirations for a better life

The underlying purpose of opening up is to improve people’s wellbeing. Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, we have taken steps to strengthen China’s connectivity with the rest of the world. This has stimulated market vitality and driven steady growth, stable employment, and improvements in public wellbeing. Indeed, a surge in high-quality imports has contributed significantly to both industrial and consumption upgrading. By the end of 2024, foreign investors had established nearly 1.24 million companies in China, with close to 700,000 foreign trade companies engaged in import and export activities over the course of the year. Foreign trade and investment have, directly or indirectly, supported the employment of over 200 million people, including more than 80 million rural migrant workers. Chilean cherries and Ecuadorian white shrimp, among other products, have enjoyed significant market success in China.

Through high-standard opening up, China can better leverage both domestic and international markets and resources on a broader scale to better serve the personalized, high-quality, and diversified consumption demands of its people. 

A proactive move to advance the development of an open world economy and a community with a shared future for humanity

China practices true multilateralism, promotes inclusive economic globalization that benefits all, actively participates in global economic governance, and is committed to building an open world economy. Economic globalization is a prevailing trend of history. While it may encounter headwinds and countercurrents, it can never be fundamentally reversed.

High-standard opening up helps to build global consensus. It enables China to contribute its insights and solutions to the world on an ongoing basis, foster a favorable environment for global trade, investment, and development cooperation, and thus generate positive momentum for economic globalization. The Chinese have long held that “all nations are of one family” and have advocated “peace among all nations and harmony in the whole world.” By proactively expanding opening up, China will effectively unleash the dividends of its mega-sized market, and through its development help more countries to develop, thus promoting tangible, in-depth progress in building a community with a shared future for humanity.

A strategic choice to address uncertainties in the external environment and enhance national security capabilities

Despite global economic instability and uncertainty, China remains committed to openness, connectivity, cooperation, and mutual benefit. On the one hand, openness makes us stronger. Security is a prerequisite for development, and development is a safeguard for security. Therefore, we must remain firm in our commitment to both ensuring security and promoting development. The more headwinds and hazards we face, the more courage we must show in pushing ahead with high-standard opening up. We must use this process to bolster our strength and effectively enhance our capacity for safeguarding national security.

On the other hand, openness helps to forestall risks. In the face of intensifying external impacts, we have opted to expand international cooperation and deeply involved ourselves in the global industrial division of labor and cooperation. These efforts have allowed us to forge closer economic and trade ties with other countries, expand import channels for bulk commodities, and introduce critical technologies and products. As a result, our energy and resource supplies have become more diversified, and the security and stability of key industrial and supply chains have been better ensured. 

II. How should we understand the dynamic practices of high-standard opening up in the new era?

Since entering the new era, China has grasped the general trends of development and met the demands of the times through a more proactive strategy of opening up. We have shifted our focus from opening up based on the flow of goods and production factors to opening up on an institutional level, while also gradually transitioning from primarily being a participant in global economic governance to taking a lead role. These moves have enabled China to achieve historic accomplishments and strides in its opening up endeavors.

Ushering in a new phase for China’s open economy by pursuing both more expansive opening up and deeper reform

We have firmly pushed ahead with the deepening of reform across the board in order to develop a new system for an open economy and deliver qualitative improvements alongside reasonable quantitative growth. In line with this, a raft of foreign trade structural reforms have been introduced in areas such as finance, taxation, banking, and trade facilitation. As a result, China has ranked first in the world for eight consecutive years in terms of total volume of trade in goods, with our exports accounting for over 14% of the global total, while the global share of our imports has risen from 9.7% in 2012 to 10.5% in 2024. 

By enhancing alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules and improving regulatory coordination, China has slashed cross-border costs for trade in services. In 2024, the total volume of trade in services exceeded the US$1 trillion threshold for the first time, a historic high that has made China the world’s second-largest services trader. Thanks to continued efforts to ease market access for foreign investors, actual utilized foreign investment has reached a cumulative total of almost US$3 trillion. Notably, the share of foreign investment in high-tech industries has climbed from 12.8% in 2012 to 34.6% in 2024. The systems and mechanisms for promoting and protecting outbound investment have also been improved. For 13 consecutive years, China’s outbound direct investment has ranked among the world’s top three, reaching US$162.78 billion in 2024 and accounting for over 10% of the global total for the ninth year in a row.

A China Railway Express train departs from the East China International Transport Port in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, June 18, 2025. The train inaugurated the Jinhua-Turkmenbashi-Baku multimodal transport corridor over the Caspian Sea. The China Railway Express stands as a landmark achievement of the Belt and Road Initiative. PEOPLE’S DAILY / PHOTO BY HU XIAOFEI

Securing new breakthroughs in institutional opening up through both unilateral steps and agreement-based opening

By ensuring that unilateral opening and agreement-based opening are well-integrated and complementary, we have accelerated the creation of a new dynamic of all-around opening up. Since 2017, the national negative list for foreign investment has been cut from 93 items to just 29, with all restrictions lifted in the manufacturing sector. Since 2013, China has established 22 pilot free trade zones (FTZs). With a total of 379 institutional innovations from such zones replicated and rolled out nationwide, FTZs have effectively performed their role as comprehensive testing grounds for reform and opening up. They have fully implemented the first batch of measures to achieve alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules. Furthermore, in the Shanghai FTZ, implementation of a plan for comprehensive alignment has been basically completed.

Since 2012, China’s FTZ network has undergone a dramatic expansion, with the number of signed free trade agreements (FTAs) increasing from 10 to 23 and our pool of FTA partners growing from 18 to 30. Trade with FTA partners has risen to about 43% as a share of China’s total foreign trade (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan). Since the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement came into effect, China’s trade in goods with partner countries has consistently accounted for over 30% of its total trade, while annual investment from these partners has averaged nearly US$20 billion. 

Steps have also been taken to pioneer a new FTA model for developing countries, with China signing the Framework Agreement on Economic Partnership for Shared Development with over 30 African nations. China has also helped bring 130 World Trade Organization (WTO) members on board the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement—the first development-centered economic and trade agreement initiated and led by China, as well as the first global multilateral investment agreement. Moreover, China has facilitated the conclusion of the WTO Agreement on Electronic Commerce, forming the first-ever global multilateral rules on digital trade. 

Making new advances in open cooperation by working for mutual benefits and demonstrating a sense of responsibility

Firmly committed to a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up, China has helped more countries integrate into the world market. We have extended non-reciprocal market access to the least developed countries (LDCs) and introduced zero tariffs on all tariff items for LDCs that have diplomatic relations with China. These steps fully demonstrate China’s image as a responsible major country. The China International Import Expo has opened a “window of opportunity,” with the cumulative intended transaction value exceeding US$500 billion over its seven editions.

From 2013 to 2024, trade in goods between China and Belt and Road partner countries reached US$26 trillion, two-way investment exceeded US$500 billion, and completed turnover from contracted projects surpassed US$1.6 trillion. Major signature projects such as the China-Laos Railway and the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, as well as a number of “small yet effective” projects, have been completed, generating tax revenue, creating jobs, and delivering tangible benefits to local populations.

Realizing new improvements in our capacity for opening up by both advancing development and ensuring security 

In the course of expanding opening up, China has firmly applied a holistic approach to national security and adopted dynamic measures to safeguard economic security. The export control system has been steadily improved. Well-calibrated steps have been taken to expand the scope of controlled items, licensing review procedures have been optimized, and investigation and enforcement mechanisms have been refined. The export control list and the unreliable entity list have also been brought into play. Corporate compliance programs have been steadily advanced, and the abuse of export control measures by other countries has been appropriately addressed.

Early-warning systems and legal service mechanisms for trade frictions have been improved, and the development and practical exploration of trade adjustment assistance have been advanced. A full range of external trade investigation tools have been developed, multiple measures have been adopted to address various new types of trade restrictions, and the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises have been safeguarded. In addition, we have also strengthened protections for overseas interests and enhanced the resilience of our industrial and supply chains. 

III. What advantages does China possess for expanding high-standard opening up?

In recent years, as changes unseen in a century have accelerated across the world, the external environment has become more complex and challenging. Expanding opening up now faces greater difficulties and demands than in the past. At the same time, we should be aware that with the firm leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, China’s economy remains on a stable footing and enjoys many advantages, ample resilience, and great potential. These factors have created many favorable conditions for expanding high-standard opening up. They are what keep us calm and sure and where our resolve and confidence stem from. Notable advantages in this regard include the following.

A vast market

In today’s world, markets are the scarcest resource. With its enormous demand and strong potential for growth, China’s domestic market provides a solid foundation for expanding high standard opening up. China has the world’s largest middle-income group, with a per capita GDP of approximately 96,000 yuan in 2024. It is the world’s second-largest market in terms of both consumption and imports. In the first six months of 2025, sales in the five major categories of consumer goods covered by China’s trade-in policy reached 1.6 trillion yuan, already surpassing the full-year figure of 1.3 trillion yuan for 2024. 

From a structural perspective, the potential demand for services in China is huge. In 2024, per capita expenditure on services accounted for 46.1% of total per capita consumer spending, indicating substantial room for growth. We have witnessed a surge in demand across areas such as eldercare, childcare, and domestic services. The number of beds in eldercare institutions and facilities across the country accounts for just 2.8% of the population aged 60 and above. Meanwhile, over 30% of families with children under the age of three require childcare services, yet the national enrollment rate in childcare programs remains as low as 7.9%. All this indicates that service consumption is set to become a new driver of growth.

The Trade in Services and Cross-Border E-Commerce Zone is pictured on the opening day of the 2025 (China) Eurasia Commodity and Trade Expo in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, June 26, 2025. Held in the Xinjiang International Convention and Exhibition Center, the expo was themed “Advancing Eurasian Cooperation, Sharing Silk Road Prosperity.” PHOTO BY XINHUA REPORTER XIN YUEWEI

Complete industrial chains

Our complete industrial chains, with its robust supply capacities, provide important support for expanding high-standard opening up by helping to optimize flows in the domestic economy while also driving international economic flows. China possesses a complete industrial system. It stands as the only country with all industrial categories classified by the United Nations and boasts over 200 mature industrial clusters. Notably, the well-coordinated development of industrial clusters in the Yangtze River Delta has given rise to a “four-hour industrial ecosystem,” where all auto parts required to assemble an electric vehicle lie within a four-hour drive. Thanks to mature supply chains and a complete industrial ecosystem, the robotics sector is booming, with over 60% of components coming from local suppliers.

With strong industrial support capabilities, China also offers a smooth and efficient logistics network and data transmission network for industrial development. These complete industrial chains can significantly lower costs, boost efficiency, and enhance competitiveness, thus making China an increasingly attractive destination for global production factors and resources.

Scientific and technological innovation capacities

By pursuing self-reliance and strength in science and technology and relying on talent to pioneer and propel development, China has generated strong impetus for expanding high-standard opening up. We have a large high-caliber workforce, a vast pool of entrepreneurs, and the world’s largest group of scientists and engineers, and we maintain the largest full-time equivalent of research and development (R&D) personnel globally. These resources are producing significant talent dividends.

China ranked 11th in the Global Innovation Index 2024 and remains the world’s second-largest R&D investor and the top filer of patent applications. It leads the world in the number of lighthouse factories designated by the World Economic Forum, accounting for over 40% of the world total. It is also home to 71 artificial intelligence unicorn companies, representing nearly one third of the global total. Emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, and new-generation information technology are leading the way internationally, helping to drive economic transformation and upgrading at home, while contributing to digital and green development across the globe.

A commitment to upholding the international order

China has always stood on the right side of history. Thanks to its determination to be a force for peace, stability, and progress in the world, China’s international influence and appeal have grown significantly, creating a favorable climate of public opinion for expanding high-standard opening up. Currently, unilateralism, protectionism, and overstretching of the concept of national security are severely impacting the global economic and trade order and inflicting great harm on the legitimate rights and interests of all countries. China champions inclusive economic globalization that benefits all. It steadfastly upholds the multilateral trading system, promotes solidarity and cooperation, and defends fairness and justice. Its efforts in this regard have been widely welcomed by the international community.

Pursuing a vision of global governance through extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, China has seen the notion of a community with a shared future for humanity evolve from a Chinese proposal into an initiative backed by international consensus. In addition, the Hongqiao International Economic Forum has established itself as an important platform for galvanizing global consensus on openness, with its release of the World Openness Report and the World Openness Index for four straight years.

IV. How can we create new opportunities for Chinese modernization through high-standard opening up? 

As China develops, it will continue to open its door wider to the world. Adhering to its basic state policy of opening up, China will continue to promote reform, development, cooperation, and win-win outcomes through greater openness. We will steadily expand institutional opening up, take the initiative to open wider and advance unilateral opening up in a well-ordered way, and further improve our capacity for expanding high-standard opening up. All this will leave us well-placed to explore new opportunities and generate strong momentum for Chinese modernization. To this end, we will accelerate the pace of progress in the following aspects of our opening up endeavors.

Enhancing quality to help drive high-quality development

High-standard opening up should be oriented toward optimizing resource allocation, igniting passion for innovation, and improving production efficiency, thereby providing stronger support for high-quality development. With this in mind, we will further upgrade trade in goods by diversifying markets, promoting the digital and green development of trade, fostering institutions favorable to the development of new forms and models of business, and developing integrated pilot zones for cross-border e-commerce. We will implement innovative measures to boost trade in services, fully apply the negative list for cross-border trade in services, and build national demonstration zones for the innovative development of trade in services. We will also develop digital trade through innovative approaches and deepen international cooperation in digital trade.

We will ease restrictions on market access for foreign investors, expand trials to open sectors such as telecommunications and medical services, and take the initiative to further open the educational and cultural sectors in a prudent and well-ordered way. The Foreign Investment Law and its implementation regulations will be fully enforced to make China a favored destination for foreign investment. Further steps will be taken to promote comprehensive trials and demonstrations for expanding opening up of the service sector. We will improve the policies for opening up in national-level economic and technological development zones and better leverage their central role in stabilizing foreign investment. We will give full play to the role of the round table meetings for foreign-funded companies and ensure these companies are provided with quality services. 

We will advance international cooperation in industrial and supply chains and guide the cross-border development of supply chains in a well-conceived and orderly manner. We will also expand the functions of overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, improve the institutions for comprehensive overseas services, and promote cooperation on investment.

Raising standards to advance in-depth reform 

To ensure that reform and opening up are mutually reinforcing, we must clear away all institutional barriers and develop a new system for a higher-standard open economy. We will advance alignment with high-standard international economic and trade rules and intensify efforts to carry out trials on institutional opening up at a deeper level and across more domains. We will work faster to replicate and apply pilot measures from FTZs to more areas and support FTZs in pursuing innovation throughout industrial chains in line with local conditions. The implementation of core policies for the Hainan Free Trade Port will be accelerated.

We will continue working toward accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and push for breakthroughs in negotiations to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, while advancing relevant domestic reforms accordingly. We will work to conclude more high-standard FTAs while continuously promoting more open FTAs. We will adopt zero tariffs for more goods, accelerate negotiations on trade in services and investment based on a negative list approach, and actively introduce high-standard economic and trade rules in areas such as the digital and green economies and cooperation on standards. More economic and trade agreements and cooperation frameworks will also be proposed. By signing agreements on economic partnership for shared development, we will fully implement zero tariffs on 100% of tariff lines for the 53 African countries that have diplomatic ties with China and do more to facilitate exports from Africa’s LDCs to China. 

Fostering greater openness to promote inclusive economic globalization that benefits all

High-standard opening up should emphasize mutually-beneficial cooperation, shared openness, and common development among countries. To this end, we will deepen practical cooperation with Belt and Road partners, advancing both signature projects and “small yet effective” public wellbeing projects in a coordinated manner and expediting the establishment of pilot zones for Silk Road e-commerce cooperation. Steady progress will be made in expanding collaboration in green development, digital economy, clean energy, green minerals, and other fields. We will promote the high-quality development of China-Europe freight train services and accelerate the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and the Air Silk Road. 

Through platforms such as the UN, the G20, BRICS, and APEC, China will continue to promote economic globalization and the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment, in an effort to foster a free, open, inclusive, and orderly international economic environment. We will actively participate in WTO reform, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of developing members, and fully engage in shaping rules for emerging areas such as trade and environment, digital trade, artificial intelligence, and supply chain resilience. By contributing Chinese solutions, we will help steer WTO reform toward outcomes that benefit the whole world.

Improving safeguards to ensure a balance between development and security

Opening up is not just a matter of throwing our door open; the more open we become, the greater the emphasis we must place on security. We will accelerate efforts to improve the export control system while also refining the dialogue mechanisms on export controls. We will formulate or revise supporting departmental rules and regulations, adopt control measures on relevant items in a prudent and orderly manner, and enhance targeted licensing management, investigation, and enforcement. We will refine the early warning mechanisms for industrial damage as well as response mechanisms for trade frictions, while improving the trade remedy system. We will strengthen ongoing and ex post oversight and improve systems such as national security review for foreign investment.

China will fully leverage the liaison and service platform for overseas enterprises and outbound investment, ensure risk warnings and alerts are issued in a timely manner, and properly handle various overseas emergencies to safeguard our overseas assets and personnel. We will make all aspects of the international communication more effective. We will address issues at their root, eloquently counter false narratives, and focus on effectively telling China's stories and making China's voice heard. These efforts will help ensure a positive international climate of public opinion for China's opening up endeavors.

Wang Wentao is Minister and Secretary of the CPC Leadership Group, Ministry of Commerce.

(Originally appeared in Qiushi Journal, Chinese edition, No. 14, 2025)