Promote High-Level Opening Up Through Deepening Reform

At the opening ceremony of a special seminar on studying and implementing the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC for principal leading officials at the provincial and ministerial level, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that “we must uphold the unity of reform and opening up, steadily expand institutional opening up, actively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, deepen the reform of the management systems for foreign trade, foreign investment, and outbound investment, and create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized.” This provides the fundamental guidance for grasping the dialectical relationship between reform and opening up and upholding their unity. On the new journey of the New Era, we must not only understand the theoretical connotation of promoting reform and development through opening up, but also fully recognize the important role of reform in high-level opening up, and promote the expansion of opening up to a larger scope, wider fields, and deeper levels through deepening reform.

习近平总书记在省部级主要领导干部学习贯彻党的二十届三中全会精神专题研讨班开班式上强调，“要坚持改革和开放相统一，稳步扩大制度型开放，主动对接国际高标准经贸规则，深化外贸、外商投资和对外投资管理体制改革，营造市场化、法治化、国际化一流营商环境”。这为把握改革和开放的辩证关系、坚持改革和开放相统一提供了根本遵循。新时代新征程，我们既要理解以开放促改革、促发展的理论内涵，又要充分认识改革在高水平对外开放中的重要作用，在深层次改革中推动开放向更大范围、更宽领域、更深层次拓展。

Since the beginning of this year, China has adopted multiple measures to consolidate the basic foundation of foreign trade and foreign investment. The quality and volume of foreign trade exports have risen steadily, the scale of imports has expanded steadily, high-level opening up has taken solid steps, and it has made positive contributions to economic growth. In the first three quarters, China’s GDP grew by 4.8% year-on-year, closely related to the contribution of total foreign trade imports and exports exceeding 32 trillion yuan and export growth of 6.2%. However, it must be recognized that the current momentum of world economic growth is weak, external uncertainties and unstable factors are increasing, and China faces significant challenges in foreign trade exports and outbound investment. Some countries, out of considerations for protecting their own industries or strategic competition, have set up obstacles to Chinese enterprises’ exports and overseas investment, using countervailing duties as a pretext to impose tariffs, or intervening in or restricting China’s outbound investment. It can be said that significantly improving China’s external economic and trade environment and assisting high-quality development remain urgent tasks we face.

今年以来，我国多措并举巩固外贸外资基本盘，外贸出口质升量稳，进口规模稳步扩大，高水平开放迈出坚实步伐，对经济增长作出积极贡献。前三季度，我国国内生产总值同比增长4.8%，与货物贸易进出口总值超过32万亿元、出口增长6.2%的贡献密切相关。但需要看到的是，眼下世界经济增长动能偏弱、外部不确定不稳定因素增多，我国在外贸出口和对外投资方面面临着较大挑战。一些国家出于保护本国产业或者战略竞争的考虑，对我国企业出口和海外投资设置障碍，借口反补贴加征关税，干预或限制我国对外投资。可以说，显著改善我国外部经贸环境，助力经济高质量发展，仍是我们面临的紧迫课题。

At present, overcoming this task is not easy. On the one hand, economic globalization is encountering headwinds, the ecosystem of open innovation and cooperation has been damaged to a certain extent, and coupled with the decline of the multilateral trading system, establishing a stable, fair, and open international economic and trade order faces challenges. On the other hand, global trade is severely regionalized and fragmented, with numerous exclusive small blocs. In particular, some developed economies intend to use relevant economic and trade rules to benefit themselves and exclude developing economies, making the external environment China faces even more complex and severe.

目前来看，攻克这一课题并不容易。一方面，经济全球化遭遇逆流，开放创新合作生态遭到一定破坏，加上多边贸易体制式微，建立稳定、公正、开放的国际经贸秩序面临挑战。另一方面，全球贸易区域化、碎片化严重，排他性小集团林立，特别是一些发达经济体意图通过相关经贸规则为自身牟利，排斥发展中经济体，这就使我国面对的外部环境更加复杂严峻。

Domestically, China’s economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development, placing higher demands on the concept, model, and layout of opening up. There is an urgent need to implement opening up on a larger scope, in wider fields, and at deeper levels, to achieve the optimal allocation of global resource factors and provide strong impetus for high-quality development. Practice has proven that only high-level opening up can accelerate adaptation to the major trend of the transformation and restructuring of the new round of international economic and trade rules, actively participate in reshaping the global economic and trade order, seize the initiative in rule-making, and conduct economic and trade cooperation with more countries and regions; only high-level opening up can fully utilize both domestic and international markets and resources through international cooperation, creating conditions for promoting high-quality development, especially enhancing innovation capabilities; only high-level opening up can better use the international cycle to improve the efficiency and level of the domestic cycle, enhance the quality and allocation level of China’s production factors, and provide support for economic transformation, upgrading, and improving international competitiveness.

从国内看，我国经济已由高速增长阶段转向高质量发展阶段，对开放理念、开放模式、开放布局等提出更高要求，迫切需要实施更大范围、更宽领域、更深层次的对外开放，实现全球范围资源要素优化配置，为高质量发展提供强劲动力。实践证明，只有高水平对外开放，才能加快适应全球新一轮国际经贸规则变革重构的大趋势，积极参与全球经贸秩序重塑，并把握规则制定的主动权，与更多国家和地区开展经贸合作；只有高水平对外开放，才能通过国际合作充分利用国内国际两个市场两种资源，为推动高质量发展特别是提升创新能力创造条件；只有高水平对外开放，才能更好以国际循环提升国内大循环效率和水平，改善我国生产要素质量和配置水平，为经济转型升级、提升国际竞争力提供支撑。

High-level opening up is a necessary condition for China’s economy to achieve high-quality development. The current restrictions, isolation, and suppression by some countries against China have become the main obstacles to establishing high-level economic and trade cooperative relations between China and major developed economies. However, it must also be recognized that the countries attempting to completely decouple from China or suppress it for strategic purposes are ultimately a very small minority. It is entirely possible for us, through our own efforts, to reform those systems and rules that are inconsistent with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and to build more mutually beneficial bilateral and regional economic and trade relations within high-level opening up.

高水平对外开放是我国经济实现高质量发展的必要条件。眼下一些国家对我国的限制、孤立和打压，成为我国与主要发达经济体建立高水平经贸合作关系的主要障碍。但也要看到，试图与中国完全脱钩或者出于战略目的打压中国的毕竟是极少数国家。我们完全有可能通过自身努力，改革那些与国际高标准经贸规则不相符的制度、规则，在高水平对外开放中构建更加互惠互利的双边和区域经贸关系。

Special mention should be made here of the understanding of the dialectical relationship between reform and opening up. In the course of China’s decades-long reform and opening up, domestic reform and external opening up have complemented and promoted each other. In a broad sense, reform itself includes the connotation of opening up, and the deepening of reform is embedded within opening up. We emphasize “promoting reform through opening up”; China’s accession to the World Trade Organization greatly promoted market-oriented reform, which is an important proof. Currently, facing an increasingly complex external situation, emphasizing “promoting the expansion of opening up through deepening reform,” further deepening economic system reform, removing institutional and mechanistic obstacles that constrain development, and better aligning and connecting with high-standard international economic and trade rules are also inherent requirements. Practice has proven that without deeper market-oriented reform, without significant progress in areas such as property rights protection, environmental standards, and labor protection, it is difficult to achieve alignment and compatibility with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and high-level opening up cannot be promoted and expanded.

这里特别要提到对于改革和开放辩证关系的认识。在我国几十年的改革开放历程中，对内改革与对外开放是相辅相成、相互促进的，广义的改革本身就包括开放内涵，而改革深化又是寓于开放之中的。我们强调“以开放促改革”，我国加入世界贸易组织大大促进了市场化改革，就是重要证明。当前，面对日趋复杂的外部形势，强调“以深化改革促进扩大开放”，进一步深化经济体制改革，破除制约发展的体制机制障碍，更好对标对接国际高标准经贸规则，亦是题中应有之义。实践证明，没有更深入的市场化改革，没有在产权保护、环境标准、劳动保护等方面取得显著进展，就难以实现与国际高标准经贸规则的相衔接相兼容，高水平对外开放也就难以推进和拓展。

Standing at a new historical starting point, we must focus on deepening institutional and mechanistic reforms in key areas such as institutional rules, trade, and investment, continuously improve the systems and mechanisms for high-level opening up, use deepening reform to boost high-level opening up, and further enhance the depth, breadth, and scope of opening up.

站上新的历史起点，要聚焦制度规则、贸易投资等重点领域深化体制机制改革，不断完善高水平对外开放体制机制，以深层次改革助推高水平对外开放，进一步提高对外开放的深度、宽度、广度。

Steadily expand institutional opening up to further increase the depth of opening up. In recent years, China has actively promoted opening up, with the scope, fields, and levels of opening up continuously expanding, ties with the world economy becoming closer, and a new pattern of high-level opening up accelerating its formation. However, from the perspective of global economic and trade development trends, China’s opening up still exhibits characteristics of insufficient depth and height, particularly in institutional opening up. Currently, international economic and trade rules are deeply expanding from previous “border” rules to “behind-the-border” rules. To boost high-level opening up through deepening reform, we must pay more attention to the reform of “behind-the-border” management systems, establish compliance mechanisms that align with internationally accepted rules, create a transparent, stable, and predictable institutional environment, and shape new advantages for a higher-level open economy.

稳步扩大制度型开放，进一步提高对外开放的深度。这些年来，我国积极推动对外开放，开放范围、领域和层次持续拓展，与世界经济的联系更加紧密，高水平对外开放新格局加速形成。然而，从全球经贸发展趋势看，我国对外开放仍然存在深度不足、高度不够的特点，这特别表现在制度型开放上。眼下，国际经贸规则从以往的“边境上”规则向“边境后”规则深度拓展。以深层次改革助推高水平对外开放，就要更加重视“边境后”管理制度改革，建立同国际通行规则衔接的合规机制，打造透明稳定可预期的制度环境，塑造更高水平开放型经济新优势。

Raise the level of opening up in the service industry to further increase the breadth of opening up. China has completely abolished foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing sector, but the opening up of the service industry remains relatively lagging. In particular, the factor-based opening up of the service industry is still in the pilot stage, and institutional opening up aligned with high-standard economic and trade rules has just begun. Service trade is an important component of international trade and a key area of international economic and trade cooperation. To boost high-level opening up through deepening reform, the service industry should be taken as a key area. It is necessary to deepen reforms in the domestic service trade sector, standardize licensing, qualification, and technical standards in the service field, simplify licensing approval procedures, improve the transparency of regulatory policies, and reduce the cost of cross-border service trade. At the same time, it is necessary to deepen the reform of the foreign investment management system, reasonably shorten the negative list for foreign investment access, significantly relax market access, create an open and fair market competition environment, promote the orderly expansion of opening up in fields such as telecommunications, the internet, education, culture, and medical care, and raise the level of opening up in cross-border service trade.

提升服务业开放水平，进一步提高对外开放的宽度。我国已全面取消制造业领域外资准入限制，但服务业开放仍相对滞后，特别是服务业要素型开放尚处于试点阶段，对接高标准经贸规则的制度型开放也是刚刚起步。服务贸易是国际贸易的重要组成部分和国际经贸合作的重要领域，以深层次改革助推高水平对外开放，应将服务业作为重点领域，既要深化国内服务贸易领域改革，规范服务领域许可、资质和技术标准，简化许可审批程序，提高监管政策透明度，降低跨境服务贸易成本，又要深化外商投资管理体制改革，合理缩减外资准入负面清单，大幅放宽市场准入，创造开放公平的市场竞争环境，推动电信、互联网、教育、文化、医疗等领域有序扩大开放，提升跨境服务贸易的开放水平。

Expand the space for high-level opening up and cooperation to further increase the breadth of opening up. Currently, there is still an imbalance in China’s regional opening up layout, and the potential for opening up in the central and western regions has not been fully realized. To boost high-level opening up through deepening reform, it is necessary to continuously expand the space for opening up in depth and breadth. Through institutional and mechanistic reform and innovation, guide various regions to identify their functional positioning based on their basic conditions such as industrial structure, resource endowments, and innovation capabilities, leverage their comparative advantages, optimize the allocation of factor resources and the division of functions in opening up, cultivate new momentum for opening up and development, and create diverse forms of open highlands. While consolidating the leading position of the eastern coastal regions in opening up, efforts should be made to raise the level of opening up in the central, western, and northeastern regions, accelerating the formation of a comprehensive opening up pattern featuring domestic and international linkages, and mutual reinforcement between the east and the west.

拓展高水平开放合作空间，进一步提高对外开放的广度。当前，我国区域开放布局仍存在不平衡问题，中西部对外开放潜力尚未充分发挥。以深层次改革助推高水平对外开放，就要不断向纵深拓展开放空间，通过体制机制改革创新，引导各地立足产业结构、资源禀赋、创新能力等方面的基础条件，找准自己的功能定位，发挥比较优势，优化要素资源配置和开放功能分工，培育新的开放发展势能，打造形态多样的开放高地。在巩固东部沿海地区开放先导地位的同时，着力提高中西部和东北地区对外开放水平，加快形成陆海内外联动、东西双向互济的全面开放格局。

(The authors are special researchers at the Beijing Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era)

（作者系北京市习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧