Editor’s note: Zhou Jianjun is an assistant researcher at the Institute of State System Research and School of Economics, Zhejiang University. The article reflects the author’s opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. It has been translated from Chinese and edited for brevity and clarity.
In recent years, China has been advancing institutional opening up, creating a more comprehensive and deeper pattern of opening up that spans a broader range of areas. The country is now a major trading partner of more than 150 countries and regions, with its overall tariff level reduced to 7.3 percent, approaching the levels of developed member states of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
China reiterated its commitment to follow through on its fundamental policy of opening up, advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, further integrating into the regional and global economy, and striving to achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.
China strives to build a high-quality global ‘circle of friends’ as an institutional foundation for high-level opening up. Is it not a real delight to have friends coming to visit you from afar? China has long placed utmost importance on the development of foreign relations and using bilateral exchanges to facilitate trade and economic interaction. Currently, China is building a multi-level, multi-dimensional bilateral framework to continually strengthen its friendly exchanges with countries around the world.
On the national level, China has established partnerships with over 113 countries and regional organizations and has built higher-level strategic cooperative partnerships with some nations. On July 15, 2024, China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Fu Cong urged the international community at the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development to stay development-oriented and revitalize global development partnerships.
On the local level, as of December 2024, China has established 3,069 friendship city (province/state) relationships with 147 countries across five continents. The China International Friendship Cities Conference 2024 took place in Kunming on November 11, 2024. With the theme of ‘Common Prosperity, Shared Future’, this conference brought together representatives of foreign sister cities to engage in in-depth discussions on topics such as technological innovation, green development, history and culture, and transport connectivity.
Moreover, China has continuously deepened bilateral relations through measures like the Belt and Road Initiative, RCEP, and free trade zone development. Through institutional innovations, it steers high-level opening up and integrates better into the global economy, sharing with the world China’s development opportunities to achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes.
China has vigorously nurtured new drivers for foreign trade, fueling global economic growth with high-quality development in this area. In 2024, China’s export volume reached 25.45 trillion yuan($3.51 trillion), up by 7.1 percent year-on-year, marking the eighth consecutive year of growth. The import volume stood at 18.39 trillion yuan($2.54 trillion), with a growth rate of 2.3 percent, surpassing the global average by 1 percentage point.
By providing affordable and high-quality industrial products for countries worldwide and a massive demand market, China has effectively contributed to global economic growth. In addition, China also vigorously nurtures new drivers for foreign trade, expands high-level opening up, spares no efforts to stabilize foreign trade and investment, and continuously taps the potential of foreign trade and investment. On November 26, 2024, the Second China International Supply Chain Expo was held in Beijing. Under the theme ‘Connecting the World for a Shared Future’, the expo promoted industrial and supply chain cooperation among countries worldwide.
Meanwhile, China has also strengthened exchanges with global traders through international platforms such as the China Import and Export Fair, China International Import Expo, and Global Trade and Investment Promotion Summit, bringing people together to cultivate new drivers for foreign trade and expand high-level opening up.
China has accelerated digital transformation to present global economic development with fresh opportunities. Digital transformation is an important engine for global economic growth, and China, with its appropriately advanced infrastructure, vast data, and rich digital application scenarios, has unique advantages in this area.
As of June 2024, there were over 4,500 AI-related enterprises across the country, with the core industry’s scale approaching 600 billion yuan and the user base of generative AI products reaching 230 million. The Chinese government has recently introduced a series of policy measures to encourage enterprises to speed up their digital transformation, aiming to spur industrial digitization and digital industrialization through the digital transformation of enterprises. By doing so, it can unlock more digital dividends and promote high-quality economic development. Since the digital economy has salient spillover effects, China’s pursuit of digital transformation not only benefits its own economy but also stimulates digital transformations in other countries through industrial and supply chains, thereby fostering a new wave of digital revolution for global economic development.
China has also made concerted efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development and boost economic growth, leading the world in a green transition. Equal emphasis must be placed on both economic benefits and environmental sustainability, as lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.
The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference identified one of the top nine priorities for China’s economic work in 2025 as ‘efforts should be made to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, pursue green development and boost economic growth in a concerted manner, and ramp up the green transition in economic and social development’. On the one hand, China is actively promoting new energy vehicles and continually reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. According to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA)’s forecast, sales of new energy passenger cars in China will reach 13.3 million units by 2025, with domestic market penetration hitting 57 percent. On the other hand, the Chinese government is committed to pollution control, actively continuing efforts to keep the skies blue, waters clear, and lands clean. In the first three quarters of 2024, the average concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air in cities at or above the prefecture level decreased by 3.6 percent year-on-year.
Furthermore, China has made significant progress in its pursuit of green development. On November 28, 2024, the green sand control barrier around the Taklamakan Desert, extending 3,046 km, was successfully completed, becoming the world’s longest green ecological barrier around a desert. Green development is not only China’s policy goal but also a shared aspiration of countries worldwide. China’s efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, and pursue green development have benefited its own people while leading the global green transition, offering valuable experience and practical guidance for other countries advancing green development.
China’s development is inseparable from the world, and global prosperity also needs China. At present, China is accelerating the establishment of a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international circulation reinforcing each other, working on a new system for higher-level open economy. China has consistently strengthened its confidence in the path, theory, system, culture, and history. With an open mindset, it embraces the world, engaging in political mutual trust, economic and trade interactions, and cultural exchanges with countries across the globe. Looking ahead, China will introduce more innovative incremental measures and offer fresh opportunities to countries worldwide that are continuously pursuing their own new development.
(Cover: VCG)