By He Yin
“We shall stand on the correct side of history, stick to deepening reforms and opening up, step up
opening up and cooperation in the sci-tech field, advance the development of an open world
economy, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind,” said
Chinese President Xi Jinping as he chaired a symposium with entrepreneurs in Beijing on
Tuesday, July 21.
In the face of an external environment characterized by rising protectionism, global economic
downturn, and a shrinking international market, China should give full play to the advantage of its
huge domestic market, so as to constantly develop domestic economy and smoothen domestic
cycle, which will both inject impetus to the Chinese economy and boost global recovery.
Through joint efforts of the whole nation, China has achieved significant strategic results in
epidemic prevention and control, while its economy reported stable performance with signs of
improvements. China has been at the forefront of both epidemic prevention and control and
economic recovery.
China saw an economic growth of 3.2% year-on-year in the second quarter, becoming the first
economy that has recovered growth after the COVID-19 outbreak, which further demonstrated the
resilience and vitality of its economic development.
Wall Street Journal said the Chinese growth in Q2 was a highlight in the coronavirus-impacted
world, adding that the performance came from the Chinese government’s proactive measures that
have successfully contained the epidemic. Spain newspaper El Mundo noted in an article that the
recovery of the world’s second largest economy was better than expected, and it was a result of the
measures taken by the Chinese government.
Facts prove that the Chinese economy has withstood the test of COVID-19, and the basic trend of
steady long-term growth for China’s economy remains unchanged.
The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, and a new round of technological
and industrial revolution is on the rise. In the long run, economic globalization is still a trend of
the times, and so are the division of labor and win-win cooperation. To share the results of
economic globalization and growth is a common aspiration for all the people in the world.
At the virtual 10th Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Inter-sessional
Ministerial Meeting held this June, all participating countries reaffirmed their commitment to
signing the RCEP this year. During the 22nd China-EU leaders’ meeting held in the same month,
China and EU reaffirmed commitment to conclude the China-EU Comprehensive Investment
Agreement in 2020, which manifested their ambition to promote China-EU relations and
safeguard the open world economy.
At present, COVID-19 is still plaguing the world, causing changing impacts on the world
economy. To defeat the virus, countries shall enhance interconnectivity, launch innovative
cooperation, and make economic globalization more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to
all.
The epidemic has caused problems for various industries, but opportunities lie in the crisis, and
only the innovative can finally win. To guide economic globalization also needs innovative
thinking and active practices.
In the first half of this year, the added value of China’s high-tech manufacturing and equipment
manufacturing grew by 4.5% year-on-year, and the investment in high-tech manufacturing
industries and high-tech services went up by 5.8% and 7.2% respectively. Besides, online retail
sales of physical goods increased by 14.3% year-on-year, up by 5.6 percentage points from the
same period last year.
Thirteen central government departments, including the National Development and Reform
Commission, recently unveiled a guideline to support the healthy growth of new business models
in which a series of measures were proposed to accelerate the digital transformation of industries.
As the U.S. and Europe emerge from the coronavirus epidemic, their governments, cities, and
businesses should look at how China’s digital advantages have helped it respond to the logistic
challenges presented by the crisis, said an article on Harvard Business Review.
“The trend of globalization was inevitable. The new globalization will be based on open
cooperation and digital innovation. China will play a bigger role in it.” Such high evaluation on
given by a foreign investor further indicated the strong impetus for China’s economic
development.
Xi has reiterated that China’s opening-up door will not be closed, but will only open wider and
wider. This year, China implemented the foreign investment law, unveiled a master plan for the
Hainan free trade port, and further shorted its negative lists for foreign investment.
At the symposium with entrepreneurs, Xi stressed that China should firmly implement the
negative list for market access and foreign investment law, widen market access and facilitate
trade and investment. The president also urged the country to treat all enterprises in China fairly
and improve the fair environment for competition. It demonstrated the practical actions China
takes to propel economic globalization and jointly build an open world economy with other
countries.
No matter how external environment evolves, China is always committed to pooling resources and
concentrating on managing its own affairs well. It is the confidence, and responsibility of a major
country. China’s efforts to deepen reform, expand opening up and pursue stronger sustainable
development will constantly build its capability to seek happiness for the Chinese people, and
create more opportunities for and make more contribution to the common prosperity of the world.
