The Yangpu Port, located in Yangpu Economic Development Zone, is an important port of Hainan Free Trade Port. (PHOTO: XINHUA) |
History has shown that reform and opening up are the drivers of China's development in the world, as well as contributing to driving global economic growth.
Undergoing profound changes in its domestic and international environment, China has achieved remarkable success.
The third plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee ushered in an era of comprehensively deepening reform in 2013. Over the past decade, more than 2,000 reform measures have been implemented, enabling the country to eliminate extreme poverty, boost innovation, and push forward a "green revolution."
Xiaogang village, located in east China's Anhui province and known for its poverty before 1978, is the birthplace of China's rural reform. To this day, Xiaogang's pioneering spirit continues to motivate new reform initiatives.
From its family land contract responsibility system to a farmland transfer for large-scale modern farming, the village embarked on a path to prosperity, with its collective economic income reaching 14.2 million RMB last year and per capita disposable income of Xiaogang villagers increasing from 10,200 RMB in 2012 to 34,900 RMB in 2023.
China's opening up not only fostered its high-quality development economy, but also enhanced cooperation in various fields with other countries, contributing to the stability of the global supply chain and world economy.
Since 2013, the country has comprehensively deepened reform and higher-level openness, which has provided new development opportunities for the world.
According to customs statistics, China's total imports and exports reached 41.76 trillion RMB in 2023.
Last year, China's trade with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) climbed 2.8 percent year-on-year to 19.47 trillion RMB, accounting for 46.6 percent of China's total foreign trade.
Trading partners diversified and witnessed common progress, with BRI partner countries taking up a growing share, said Wang Lingjun, vice minister of the General Administration of Customs of China.
The construction of free trade pilot zones is an important strategic measure to promote reform and opening up in the new era, and it is also a milestone in the country's reform and opening up process.
In 2023, the number of China's free trade pilot zones expanded to 22, with a total import and export volume of 7.67 trillion RMB, up 2.7 percent year-on-year and accounting for 18.4 percent of the total imports and exports value.
Meanwhile, the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port has progressed further, marking its third consecutive year of double-digit growth in annual imports and exports. Statistics released by Haikou Customs in June showed that from January to May 2024, the total import and export value of Hainan's goods trade reached over 108 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 14 percent.
With the emergence of e-commerce, the country has rapidly developed new platforms and business models. The preliminary estimates showed that China's cross-border e-commerce logged total imports and exports of 2.38 trillion RMB in 2023, up more than 15 percent year-on-year, according to a recent press conference of the State Council Information Office.
The world is facing a rise of anti-globalization and protectionism, and the West is sparing no effort to contain China through decoupling or de-risking measures.
However, China has deepened reforms and opened its doors wider to the global community. Currently, the country has signed 22 free trade agreements with 29 countries and regions, and more than 230 cooperation documents on jointly building the BRI with more than 150 countries and over 30 international organizations.
Four national-level expos, the China International Import Expo, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the China Import and Export Fair, and the China International Consumer Products Expo, along with other economic and trade events, continue to welcome guests from all over the world.
China has become the main driving force behind global economic growth. As a report published by the Policy Center for the New South, a Moroccan policy-oriented think tank noted, reform and opening up is a Chinese lesson to the world.