Aligning with High-Standard International Economic and Trade Rules to Promote High-Level Opening Up

Aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules is conducive to creating a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized first-class business environment. High-standard international economic and trade rules, represented by the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), include not only border liberalization rules but also a range of behind-the-border rules covering competitive neutrality, state-owned enterprises, intellectual property protection, labor and environmental protection, subsidies, government procurement, regulatory coherence, transparency, and anti-corruption. Aligning with these rules to promote reforms of relevant domestic systems and mechanisms will help create a business environment that is in line with international standards, further facilitate trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and form an institutional environment for the smooth flow of goods and factors, a market environment for fair competition among business entities, and a stable, transparent, and predictable policy environment.

对标国际高标准经贸规则有利于营造市场化、法治化、国际化一流营商环境。以《全面与进步跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（CPTPP）、《数字经济伙伴关系协定》（DEPA）等为代表的国际高标准经贸规则，不仅包含边境自由开放规则，还涵盖了一系列边境后规则，涉及竞争中性、国有企业、知识产权保护、劳工环境保护、补贴、政府采购、监管一致性、透明度和反腐败等方面。对标这些规则推动国内相关体制机制改革，将有助于营造与国际接轨的营商环境，进一步促进贸易和投资自由化便利化，形成商品和要素顺畅流动的制度环境、经营主体公平竞争的市场环境和稳定、透明、可预期的政策环境。

Alignment of rules and standards is the basic support for linking domestic and international markets and deeply integrating industrial and supply chains, and is also an inevitable requirement for advancing high-level opening up. High-standard international economic and trade rules involve a series of high-level opening-up measures, such as achieving zero tariffs on more than 99% of trade in goods, adopting a negative list model for trade in services with a ratchet mechanism to ensure that the degree of openness "only advances, never retreats," and granting foreign investors freedom of market access and national treatment, among others. Aligning with these rules to orderly expand the opening of China's goods markets, services markets, capital markets, and labor markets will provide institutional support for high-quality "bringing in" and high-level "going global," thereby creating development space for China to expand its international markets on a larger scale, more comprehensively and deeply integrate into the global supply chain system, and participate in the division of labor in the global value chain at a higher level.

规则标准对接是促进国内国际两个市场联通、产业链供应链深度融合的基础支撑，也是推进高水平开放的必然要求。国际高标准经贸规则涉及一系列高水平开放举措，如，货物贸易99%以上实现零关税；服务贸易采用负面清单模式并设置棘轮机制，确保开放度“只进不退”；赋予外国投资者市场准入自由和国民待遇；等等。对接这些规则有序扩大我国商品市场、服务市场、资本市场、劳务市场开放，将为高质量“引进来”与高水平“走出去”提供制度支撑，从而为我国更大范围拓展国际市场、更全面深度融入全球供应链体系、更高层次参与全球价值链分工提供发展空间。

An important aspect of accelerating the construction of a new development paradigm with domestic circulation as the main body and domestic and international circulations reinforcing each other is to achieve efficient connection between domestic and international markets and match supply and demand of resource factors, better using international circulation to improve the quality and level of domestic circulation. The requirements and principles of high-standard international economic and trade rules aim to eliminate various restrictive barriers and obstacles in trade and investment to the greatest extent, promote the cross-border flow and efficient allocation of factors such as capital, personnel, and data, conform to the objective trend of economic globalization, and are also consistent with the inherent requirements of China's new development paradigm. For example, raising the standards of rules of origin is conducive to improving the level of regional supply chain collaboration; rules on the safe and smooth cross-border flow of data and the elimination of obstacles to electronic authentication and electronic signatures, paperless trade, and access to and use of the Internet for e-commerce reflect the development requirements of the digital economy supported by digital technology with data as the core element. These rules provide institutional guarantees for the smooth cross-border flow of goods, services, and various innovation factors, are conducive to improving the allocation efficiency of high-quality production factors, and can not only enhance the quality of China's products and services, achieve consumption structure upgrading, and better meet the needs of China's industries moving toward the mid-to-high end of the global value chain, but also help China respond to the trends of onshoring, nearshoring, and friend-shoring of global supply chains, safeguard supply chain security, and open up a broader international market for "going global" of advantageous production capacity, technology, services, and standards.

加快构建以国内大循环为主体、国内国际双循环相互促进的新发展格局，一个重要方面在于实现国内国际市场高效连接与资源要素供需匹配，更好以国际循环提升国内循环质量和水平。国际高标准经贸规则的要求、原则，旨在最大限度消除贸易和投资领域的各种限制性壁垒和障碍，促进资金、人员、数据等要素跨境流动和高效配置，符合经济全球化的客观趋势，同时也与我国构建新发展格局的内在要求一致。如，提高原产地规则标准有利于提升区域供应链协作水平；数据跨境安全顺畅流动以及消除在电子认证和电子签名、无纸贸易、接入和使用互联网开展电子商务方面的障碍等规则，体现了以数字技术为支撑、以数据为核心要素的数字经济发展要求。这些规则为商品、服务和各类创新要素跨境顺畅流动提供制度保障，有利于提升优质生产要素的配置效率，不仅可以提升我国产品和服务质量、实现消费结构升级，更好满足我国产业迈向全球价值链中高端环节的需要，而且有助于我国应对全球供应链在岸化、近岸化、友岸化趋势，维护供应链安全，还能为优势产能和技术、服务、标准“走出去”开辟更广阔的国际市场。

Overall, aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules is conducive to building a new model of inclusive and mutually beneficial development cooperation between China and developing economies, as well as building a new type of mutually beneficial and win-win cooperative relationship with developed economies. It will create more favorable conditions for deepening reforms, improving the global governance system, and participating in the construction of regional governance platforms. It is necessary to actively take the initiative to align with relevant rules, regulations, management, and standards to promote reforms of domestic systems and mechanisms in relevant fields, create a first-class business environment through high-level opening up, and promote the open economy to reach a new level.

总的来说，对接国际高标准经贸规则既有利于我国与发展中经济体之间构建普惠包容的发展合作新模式，也有利于与发达经济体构筑互惠共赢的新型合作关系，将为深化改革完善全球治理体系和参与区域治理平台建设创造更为有利的条件。必须主动对照相关规则、规制、管理、标准推进国内相关领域体制机制改革，以高水平对外开放营造一流营商环境，促进开放型经济再上新台阶。

First, raise the level of openness in trade in services. Establish and improve a negative list management system for cross-border trade in services, and expand openness in services trade such as telecommunications, medical care, education, culture, the internet, finance, professional services, and modern logistics. For example, expand the business scope of foreign financial institutions in the banking and insurance sectors, continuously explore opening-up measures in cultural fields such as film, television, and performances in key cities, pilot free trade zones, and pilot sites for innovative development of trade in services, and continuously improve visa facilitation measures for foreign nationals coming to China.

一是提升服务贸易开放水平。建立健全跨境服务贸易负面清单管理制度，扩大电信、医疗、教育、文化、互联网、金融、专业服务、现代物流等服务贸易开放。如，扩大银行保险领域外资金融机构经营范围，在重点城市和自贸试验区、服务贸易创新发展试点等平台持续探索影视、演出等文化领域开放举措，不断改进外籍人士来华签证便利化举措。

Second, advance the opening of digital trade. Promote the safe and free flow of cross-border data, accelerate the improvement of systems such as industry key data lists, data classification and hierarchical management, and security assessment, and improve the efficiency of cross-border flow of commercial data. Strengthen cross-border data management, promote the safe and orderly flow of R&D data, and improve laws and regulations on the protection of data intellectual property rights such as source code, data assets, and digital copyrights, as well as personal privacy protection and consumer rights protection. Promote the establishment of international cooperation mechanisms in the digital field, and strengthen international cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data, cross-border settlement, and mobile payments.

二是推进数字贸易开放。推进跨境数据安全自由流动，加快完善行业重点数据清单、数据分类分级管理、安全评估等制度，提升商业数据跨境流动效率。加强数据跨境管理，促进研发数据安全有序流动，完善源代码、数据资产、数字版权等数据知识产权保护以及个人隐私保护、消费者权益保护的法律法规建设。推动建立数字领域国际合作机制，加强人工智能、大数据、跨境结算、移动支付等领域国际合作。

Third, expand the openness of trade in goods. Reduce import tariff levels on some daily consumer goods, industrial products, luxury goods, and pharmaceuticals, promote innovation in trade supervision methods, continuously facilitate trade in goods, improve the "single window" for international trade, optimize inspection, testing, and quarantine procedures, improve customs clearance efficiency, and promote the development of green trade.

三是扩大货物贸易开放力度。降低部分日用消费品、工业品、奢侈品、药品等的进口关税水平，推动贸易监管方式创新，持续推进货物贸易便利化，完善国际贸易“单一窗口”，优化检验检测检疫流程，提高通关效率，推动绿色贸易发展。

Fourth, deepen the reform of the foreign investment management system. Continuously reduce the negative list for foreign investment access, expand foreign investment access in the service sector, and reduce restrictions such as joint venture and share ratio requirements. Strengthen the protection of foreign investment rights and interests, improve the complaint mechanism for foreign-invested enterprises and the international dispute settlement mechanism, and build a "one-stop" resolution platform for foreign-related commercial disputes. Improve the ex-post and interim supervision system, and strengthen the foreign investment security review mechanism and the credit system construction.

四是深化外商投资管理体制改革。持续缩减外商投资准入负面清单，扩大服务业外资准入，消减合资、股比等限制措施。强化外商投资权益保护，完善外资企业投诉机制、国际争端解决机制，建设涉外商事纠纷“一站式”解决平台。完善事中事后监管体系，加强外商投资安全审查机制、信用体系建设。

Fifth, create a market environment for fair competition. Strengthen the review of corporate mergers and administrative monopolies, increase law enforcement against the abuse of market dominance, and ensure that all types of business entities use various production factors equally and participate in market competition on a fair basis. Enhance the transparency of policy formulation and law enforcement, and ensure the implementation of national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises in areas such as government procurement, industrial subsidies, and standard setting.

五是营造公平竞争的市场环境。加强企业并购审查、行政垄断审查，加大对滥用市场支配地位等的执法力度，确保各类经营主体平等使用各类生产要素和公平参与市场竞争。加强政策制定透明度和执法透明度，落实好外资企业在政府采购、产业补贴、标准制定等方面的国民待遇。

Sixth, deepen the reform of state-owned enterprises. Align with the requirements of CPTPP and other rules regarding commercial considerations, competitive neutrality, and transparency for state-owned enterprises, continue to deepen the classified reform of state-owned enterprises, and improve market-oriented operation mechanisms. Deepen market-oriented reforms in competitive segments of key sectors such as telecommunications and railways, and strengthen effective supervision of monopolistic behavior. Steadily promote the mixed-ownership reform of state-owned enterprises, and further stimulate the internal vitality of state-owned enterprises.

六是深化国有企业改革。对标CPTPP等规则中针对国有企业的商业考虑、竞争中性、透明度等要求，持续深化国有企业分类改革，健全市场化经营机制。深化电信、铁路等重点领域竞争性环节市场化改革，加强对垄断行为的有效监管。稳步推进国有企业混合所有制改革，进一步激发国有企业内生活力。

(The author is a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Beijing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Center, and a Research Fellow at the China Center for International Economic Exchanges.)

（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、中国国际经济交流中心研究员）

Online editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧