The Pre-Expo Buyer and Supplier Matchmaking Meeting of the 2018 China International Import Expo (CIIE) took place in late July. The CIIE, scheduled to be held in Shanghai from Nov. 5 to 10, demonstrates China’s confidence and determination to expand its openness to the world. Photo: Jin Liangkuai/XINHUA

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SHENZHEN—Looking back on the four decades of China’s reform and opening up, experts at a recent forum suggested pushing forward a new pattern of all-round opening up.

Over the past 40 years, China has transformed from a closed economy to an open economy, from a small-economy and small-trade country relying on primary products for its participation in the global division of labor to the world’s largest trading nation, said Long Guoqiang, deputy director of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

At present, the international environment has undergone profound changes. It is imperative to adhere to opening up, to focus on the “Belt and Road” (B&R), to actively construct free trade zones and to form a new pattern of comprehensive opening up, Long concluded.

Reform and opening up is ongoing and will never stop, said Zhang Yantong, deputy director of the Counselors’ Office of the State Council. Looking forward to the next 40 years, China will open up and cooperate globally on a broader and deeper level, promote the construction of new international relations, and strive to build a community of shared future for mankind.

The world is undergoing the most profound and unprecedented changes in a century, said Zhou Li, former deputy head of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee. On the one hand, unilateralism and trade protectionism are intensifying; on the other hand, economic globalization remains unstoppable.

China’s B&R initiative will certainly enhance exchange and integration among different civilizations and will facilitate cooperation and trust among countries and people, Zhou continued.

 “China’s reform and opening up has made tremendous contributions to the world,” said Liu Yuanchun, vice president of Renmin University of China. Through reform and opening up, China has actively embraced a new round of technological progress and industrial transfer in the world, and more than 700 million laborers have successfully joined the global economic system. China has utilized its comparative advantages and actively participated in the process of economic globalization, achieving long-term high-speed economic growth.

At present, China’s economy has undergone revolutionary changes. The stability and healthy development of China’s economy has become ballast for the health and stability of the world economy, Liu continued.

Zhu Min, former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said that China is not only a provider of global capital, but also the main driver of world economic growth. This has fundamentally changed China's international status and changed its financial status. After China became the world's major economy, the spillover effects of development continued to expand. The stable development of China's economy and fiance is closely related to the common prosperity of the world.

 

Nicolas Chapuis, head of the EU delegation to China, said that China's four decades of reform and opening up is a feat in world history. In particular, entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001 helped the Chinese economy take off. In light of economic globalization, trade protectionism cannot solve problems. Under the UN framework, the European Union will deepen its cooperation with China in the fields of economy, trade, finance, culture and diplomacy.

Mahmoud Amine, director of the Arab League Representative Office in China, said that China's wisdom and approach can help many countries solve their own problems of mankind. Arab countries have actively responded to and participated in the B&R iitiative and are committed to deepening cooperation with China in economy, trade, finance, energy, infrastructure and culture.

Looking forward to the next four decades, China will lead the sustainable development of the world economy, ssaid Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington, DC. The world today is undergoing a crucial period of reform and environmental protection, and China's series of reforms in finance, the digital economy and the internet are vital to the world.

 

(edited by CHEN ALONG)