Consolidating the Rule-of-Law Foundation for High-Standard Opening Up

The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC put forward the important thesis of “upholding law-based governance in all respects, deepening reform and advancing Chinese-path modernization on the track of the rule of law,” which is the fundamental basis for our understanding of the relationship between high-standard opening up and the rule of law. On 27 November 2023, at the tenth collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly elaborated on the relationship between the rule of law and high-standard opening up, stressing that we must advance high-standard opening up on the basis of the rule of law, promote the building of a foreign-related legal system in the course of expanding opening up, and continuously consolidate the rule-of-law foundation for high-standard opening up. At the present stage, we must fully recognize the importance of consolidating the rule-of-law foundation for high-standard opening up and ensure the realization of high-standard opening up on the track of the rule of law.

党的二十届三中全会提出“坚持全面依法治国，在法治轨道上深化改革、推进中国式现代化”的重要论断，这是我们领会高水平对外开放与法治关系的根本依循。2023年11月27日，习近平总书记在中共中央政治局第十次集体学习时深刻阐述了法治与高水平对外开放的关系，要坚持在法治基础上推进高水平对外开放，在扩大开放中推进涉外法治建设，不断夯实高水平开放的法治根基；现阶段，我们要充分认识到夯实高水平对外开放法治根基的重要性，在法治轨道上确保高水平对外开放的实现。

The Great Significance of Advancing Institutional Opening Up

推进制度型开放的重大意义

How can China’s high-standard opening up be effectively advanced on the track of the rule of law? On the one hand, it is necessary to consolidate the rule-of-law foundation for high-standard opening up; on the other hand, it is necessary to build a foreign-related legal system and capacity that meet the requirements of high-quality development and high-standard opening up. The key elements and focal points of these two aspects are concentrated in the rule-of-law construction of institutional opening up.

我国的高水平对外开放如何在法治轨道上有效推进？一方面，要夯实高水平对外开放的法治根基；另一方面，要建设同高质量发展、高水平对外开放要求相适应的涉外法治体系和能力。这两个方面的关键要素和着力点，集中体现在制度型开放的法治建设中。

General Secretary Xi Jinping and the Party Central Committee attach

习近平总书记和党中央高度重视制度型开放，多次在党的重要文件中强调我国稳步扩大制度型开放的信心和决心。2018年中央经济工作会议首次提出制度型开放。党的十九届四中全会提出建设更高水平开放型经济新体制，推动规则、规制、管理、标准等制度型开放。党的十九届六中全会为我国构建对外开放经济体系确立了递进的目标要求，第一层次是推动规则、规制、管理、标准等制度型开放，第二层次是形成更大范围、更宽领域、更深层次对外开放格局，第三个层次是构建互利共赢、多元平衡、安全高效的开放型经济体系。“十四五”规划强调，稳步拓展制度型开放，依托国内经济循环体系形成对全球要素资源的强大引力场。党的二十大再次强调，稳步扩大规则、规制、管理、标准等制度型开放，指明了制度型开放的实施领域，即贸易结构转型、外资开放、共建“一带一路”以及自由贸易试验区提升战略、人民币国际化等重点领域，并作出系统性要求。党的二十届三中全会进一步丰富了稳步扩大制度型开放的“走出去”“引进来”“国际化”的完整内涵。“走出去”体现为主动对接国际高标准经贸规则，在产权保护、产业补贴、环境标准、劳动保护、政府采购、电子商务、金融领域等实现规则、规制、管理、标准相通相容，打造透明稳定可预期的制度环境；“引进来”体现为扩大自主开放，有序扩大我国商品市场、服务市场、资本市场、劳务市场的开放，扩大对最不发达国家单边开放；“国际化”体现为维护以世界贸易组织为核心的多边贸易体制，积极参与全球经济治理体系改革，提供更多全球公共产品。扩大面向全球的高标准自由贸易区网络，建立同国际通行规则衔接的合规机制，优化开放合作环境。

It can thus be seen that institutional opening up is an important characteristic of a country’s opening up as it enters the stage of high-quality development. An accurate understanding of the profound connotations of institutional opening up helps grasp the core essence of advancing high-level opening up through the rule of law. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that the rule of law and opening up go hand in hand; as opening up advances one step forward, the construction of a foreign-related legal system must follow one step further. The alignment of the foreign-related legal system with institutional opening up fully demonstrates that the rule of law is the foundation of high-level opening up. Promoting institutional opening up through the rule of law is a key lever for China’s high-level opening up in the New Era[1]1 The New Era refers to the period following the 19th National Congress of the CPC in 2017, characterized by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era., a strong support for deepening economic system reform, and an inevitable requirement for China’s active participation in global economic governance.

由此可见，制度型开放是一国对外开放进入高质量发展阶段的重要特征。准确理解制度型开放的深刻内涵，有助于把握法治化推进高水平对外开放的核心要义。习近平总书记指出，法治同开放相伴而行，对外开放向前推进一步，涉外法治建设就要跟进一步。涉外法治与制度型开放同向同行，充分表明法治是高水平对外开放的根基所在。以法治推动制度型开放，是新时代中国高水平对外开放的关键抓手，是深化经济体制改革的有力支撑，是中国积极参与全球经济治理的必然要求。

The Systemic Composition of Advancing Institutional Opening Up through the Rule of Law

法治化推进制度型开放的体系构成

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must adhere to the unity of reform and the rule of law, use the force of reform to perfect the rule of law, further deepen reforms in the field of the rule of law, and continuously improve the socialist rule-of-law system with Chinese characteristics. Legalization is the key guarantee and important standard for steadily advancing institutional opening up. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC[2]2 The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC was held in July 2024, focusing on comprehensively deepening reform and advancing Chinese-style modernization. proposed that institutional opening up seeks to create a transparent, stable, and predictable institutional environment and optimize the environment for opening up and cooperation. This requires us, guided by Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law, to establish a theoretical and practical system for institutional opening up that includes the theory of institutional alignment, the theory of institutional opening, the theory of institutional inclusiveness, the theory of institutional standards, the theory of institutional competition, and the concept of institutional security.

习近平总书记指出，要坚持改革和法治相统一，以改革之力完善法治，进一步深化法治领域改革，不断完善中国特色社会主义法治体系。法治化是稳步推进制度型开放的关键保障和重要标准。党的二十届三中全会提出，制度型开放追求打造透明稳定可预期的制度环境，优化开放合作环境。这要求我们以习近平法治思想为指导，建立包括制度对接论、制度开放论、制度包容论、制度标准论、制度竞争论、制度安全观在内的制度型开放理论和实践体系。

First, the theory of institutional alignment. China’s economic and trade legal system should proactively align with advanced international economic and trade rules. This has been China’s consistent stance on opening up since the 18th National Congress of the CPC[3]3 The 18th National Congress of the CPC was held in 2012, marking the beginning of Xi Jinping’s leadership.. In April 2022, at the Boao Forum for Asia, President Xi Jinping proposed “aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules to promote institutional opening up.” During the second collective study session of the 20th Central Political Bureau[4]4 The Central Political Bureau is the highest decision-making body of the CPC when the Central Committee is not in session., General Secretary Xi Jinping further clarified “advancing high-level opening up and benchmarking against high-standard international rules for trade and investment.” At the tenth collective study session of the Central Political Bureau, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed proactively aligning with and actively adopting high-standard international economic and trade rules, benchmarking against advanced international levels, and promptly elevating effective measures and mature experiences from high-level opening up, such as pilot free trade zones, into law. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the CPC incorporated “proactively aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules” into the *Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese-style Modernization*[5]5 This is the official title of the key policy document adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee.. Currently, facing the complexity of the global economy and the fragmentation of international economic and trade rules, regional agreements represented by the CPTPP[6]6 CPTPP stands for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major regional trade agreement. and DEPA[7]7 DEPA stands for the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, a pioneering agreement on digital trade rules. have become important carriers of high-standard international economic and trade rules. China needs high-quality institutional opening up to promote the alignment of domestic rules and regulations with advanced international standards and to integrate with internationally accepted rules.

一是制度对接论。我国经贸法律制度要主动对接国际先进经贸规则，这是党的十八大以来我国一直坚持的开放立场。2022年4月，博鳌亚洲论坛上，习近平主席提出“对接国际高标准经贸规则，推动制度型开放”。第二十届中央政治局第二次集体学习时，习近平总书记进一步明确“推进高水平对外开放，对标高标准国际贸易和投资通行规则”。中央政治局第十次集体学习时，习近平总书记提出主动对接、积极吸纳高标准国际经贸规则，要对标国际先进水平，把自由贸易试验区等高水平对外开放的有效举措和成熟经验及时上升为法律。党的二十届三中全会将“主动对接国际高标准经贸规则”写入《中共中央关于进一步全面深化改革、推进中国式现代化的决定》之中。当前，面对全球经济的复杂性和国际经贸规则的碎片化，以CPTPP、DEPA等为代表的区域性协定成为国际经贸高标准规则的重要载体，中国需要以高质量的制度型开放，促进国内规章制度对标国际先进标准，与国际通行规则接轨。

Second, the theory of institutional opening. The theory of institutional opening is a manifestation of the measures for steadily advancing institutional opening up. During the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan[8]8 The 14th Five-Year Plan covers the period from 2021 to 2025, outlining China’s economic and social development goals., opening-up systems and measures such as the “pre-establishment national treatment plus negative list management system for foreign investment,” the “negative list for cross-border service trade,” “opening up in the financial sector,” and “entry-exit, customs, foreign exchange, and taxation” were fully implemented. In 2019, President Xi Jinping’s speech at the G20 Leaders’ Summit on the world economic situation and trade issues further clarified the specific measures for China’s institutional opening up, namely: “further opening up the market” based on the new negative list and new free trade zone and free trade port rules; “actively expanding imports” through lowering tariffs and eliminating non-tariff barriers; “continuously improving the business environment” marked by the new *Foreign Investment Law*; “fully implementing equal treatment” by eliminating restrictions on foreign investment; and “bilateral and multilateral investment agreements” via China-EU and China-Japan-ROK investment agreements, among others. Institutional opening has accelerated the reform, innovation, and internationalization of China’s economic legal system, enhancing its international competitiveness.

二是制度开放论。制度开放论是稳步推进制度型开放的措施体现。 “十四五”规划的实施过程中，全面落实了“外商投资准入前国民待遇加负面清单管理制度”“跨境服务贸易负面清单”“金融领域开放”“出入境、海关、外汇、税收”等对外开放制度和措施。2019年，习近平主席在二十国集团领导人峰会上关于世界经济形势和贸易问题的讲话，进一步明确了我国制度型开放的具体措施，即以新版负面清单和新增自贸区自贸港规则为标准的“进一步开放市场”，以降低关税和消除非关税壁垒为内容的“主动扩大进口”，以新《外商投资法》为标志的“持续改善营商环境”，以消除对外资限制的“全面实施平等待遇”，以中欧、中日韩投资协定为路径的“双多边投融资协定”，等等。制度开放加速了我国经济法律制度的改革创新和国际化，提升了其国际竞争力。

Third, the theory of institutional inclusiveness. Advocating for inclusiveness in international economic and trade rules is a concentrated expression of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and the global governance concept of upholding the multilateral trading system centered on the World Trade Organization. The concept of a community with a shared future for mankind embodies the idea of “inclusiveness and mutual benefit,” requiring us to “adhere to an inclusive orientation, promote exchange and mutual learning,” seek common ground while reserving differences, learn from each other’s strengths to offset weaknesses, and strive for harmonious coexistence. Economic globalization should follow the principles of openness, inclusiveness, and mutual benefit. Institutional opening up must uphold the rules-based multilateral trading system and unequivocally resist unilateralism and protectionism. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the construction of institutional inclusiveness, pointing out the need to expand open and inclusive markets, strengthen mutually beneficial chains, integrate the concept of inclusiveness and sharing into development strategies, and strive to improve systems and mechanisms that emphasize efficiency and fairness, thereby safeguarding social fairness and justice.

三是制度包容论。提倡国际经贸规则追求包容性，是习近平总书记提出的构建人类命运共同体理念和维护以世界贸易组织为核心的多边贸易体制的全球治理观的集中体现。人类命运共同体理念蕴含着“包容互惠”理念，要“坚持包容导向，促进交融互鉴”，求同存异、取长补短，谋求和谐共处。经济全球化应遵循开放、包容、共赢原则，制度型开放要维护以规则为基础的多边贸易体制，旗帜鲜明抵制单边主义和保护主义。习近平总书记高度重视制度包容性建设，指出要做大开放普惠的市场，做强利益共享的链条，把包容共享理念融入发展战略，努力健全讲求效率、注重公平的体制机制，维护社会公平正义。

Fourth, the theory of institutional standards. For China to implement institutional opening up, it must commit to advancing the "going global" of China's economic institutions. Only by gradually making China's economic and trade legal system acceptable, referential, and leading within the international economic and trade rules and institutional system can it match China's current economic scale and its contribution to the global economy. At present, developed countries generally still dominate global governance and world order. We must promote reform of the global governance system, set rules and directions for the international governance landscape and international system, and strive to reflect China's status and role in the long-term institutional arrangements of the international order and international system, thereby seizing the commanding heights of development. The essence of "institutions going global" is "standards going global." Only when the standards we advocate go abroad can we enhance the influence and acceptability of China's economic institutions and play a leading role in the international market. This requires us to seize historical opportunities, strengthen our international discourse power and rule-making power, actively participate in agenda setting, standard upgrading, and rule reconstruction, and shoulder the unshirkable responsibility of China as a responsible major country.

四是制度标准论。中国实施制度型开放，就要致力于推进中国经济制度“走出去”。只有在国际经贸规则和制度体系中，逐步实现我国经贸法律制度的可接受、可借鉴、可引领，才能与我国当下的经济规模和我国对全球经济的贡献相匹配。当前，发达国家总体上仍然主导着全球治理和世界秩序。我们要推进全球治理体制变革，给国际治理格局和国际体系定规则、定方向，争取在国际秩序和国际体系长远制度性安排中体现中国的地位和作用，争取发展的制高点。“制度走出去”实质是“标准走出去”，只有我国提倡的标准走出国门，才能提升我国经济制度的影响力和可接受程度，才能在国际市场上发挥我国的主导作用。这要求我们抓住历史机遇，增强国际话语权和规则制定权，主动参与议题设置、标准提升和规则重构，承担起中国作为负责任大国义不容辞的责任。

Fifth, the theory of institutional competition. Due to the public goods nature of international institutions and the scarcity of international institutional resources, a country's institutional opening up cannot ignore the risks and challenges of institutional competition. International institutional competition is directly manifested as competition for institutional power and institutional discourse. China's institutional opening up faces adverse factors such as deglobalization, geopolitical conflicts, and ideology, and thus confronts complex international institutional competition. After World War II, on the basis of the dollar-centered international monetary system, a global economic and trade institutional system centered on the United States and the West was formed. Under the impact of the 2008 international financial crisis, new international institutional platforms for global governance emerged, represented by the Group of Twenty (G20) with the participation of emerging economies, creating a new situation of international institutional competition among different interest groups. The game between this new situation and the "small yard, high fence" [9]9 "Small yard, high fence" (小院高墙) is a metaphor used to describe a strategy of selectively restricting technology and knowledge transfer to maintain competitive advantage, often associated with U.S. policy toward China. type of regional institutional cooperation promoted by the United States and the West has become an important focus of current international institutional competition. In response, China has proposed the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, established the Silk Road Fund, initiated the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank of the BRICS countries, jointly promoted the building of a community with a shared future for mankind with emerging economies, and actively advocated for international institutional cooperation and coordinated development in international institutional competition.

五是制度竞争论。由于国际制度的公共产品特征和国际制度资源的稀缺性，一个国家的制度型开放不能无视制度竞争的风险和挑战。国际制度竞争直接体现为制度权力和制度话语的竞争。中国制度型开放面临着逆全球化、地缘冲突以及意识形态等方面的不利因素，也因此面临着复杂的国际制度竞争。第二次世界大战后，在以美元为中心的国际货币体系基础上，形成了以美西方为核心的全球经贸制度体系。在2008年国际金融危机冲击下，出现以二十国集团为代表的新兴经济体加入全球治理的新型国际制度平台，形成了不同利益集团下国际制度竞争新态势。这一新态势与美西方推动的“小院高墙式”的区域制度合作之间的博弈，成为当下国际制度竞争的重要焦点。对此，中国提出共建“一带一路”倡议，设立“丝路基金”，发起成立亚洲基础设施投资银行和金砖国家新开发银行，与新兴经济体共同推动人类命运共同体建设，在国际制度竞争中积极倡导国际制度合作与协同发展。

Sixth, the concept of institutional security. The security of institutions is the bottom line and basic requirement of a country's institutional opening up; institutional opening up must be premised on institutional security. China's holistic approach to national security is a security system of overall coordination, requiring top-level strategic design using a holistic approach. General Secretary Xi Jinping points out that we should take maintaining world peace and promoting common development as the goal, take upholding fairness and justice and promoting mutual benefit and win-win as the purpose, base ourselves on international law and universally recognized basic norms of international relations, and advocate and practice multilateralism. Institutional security is the cornerstone of the holistic approach to national security. In the process of advancing institutional opening up, it is necessary to coordinate the two overall situations of domestic and international security and enhance overall national security. Attention should be paid to "improving the national security institutional system, perfecting the national security strategy and policy, strengthening national security capacity building, preventing and controlling major risks, strengthening the rule-of-law guarantee, and enhancing national security awareness." General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the importance of "strengthening the rule-of-law guarantee" in safeguarding national security; ensuring national economic security through the rule of law is one of the core tenets of institutional opening up.

六是制度安全观。制度的安全性是一个国家制度型开放的底线和基本要求，制度开放要以制度安全为前提。我国的总体国家安全观是一个统筹共存的安全体系，需要运用大统筹思路进行顶层战略设计。习近平总书记指出，以维护世界和平、促进共同发展为目标，以维护公平正义、推动互利共赢为宗旨，以国际法和公认的国际关系基本准则为基础，倡导并践行多边主义。制度安全是总体国家安全观的基石，推进制度型开放的过程中，要统筹国内国外两个安全大局，提升国家整体安全。要注重“健全国家安全制度体系、完善国家安全战略和政策、强化国家安全能力建设、防控重大风险、加强法治保障、增强国家安全意识等方面工作”。习近平总书记多次强调了在维护国家安全中“加强法治保障”的重要性，以法治保障国家经济安全是制度型开放的核心要义之一。

The Far-Reaching Impact of Promoting High-Standard Opening Up through the Rule of Law

以法治推动高水平对外开放的深远影响

Facing changes unseen in a century, relying on steadily expanding institutional opening up as the foundation for high-standard opening up has a far-reaching impact on the historical process of China increasingly moving closer to the center of the world stage. The basic logic of China's institutional opening up lies in promoting the alignment of domestic rules and regulations with advanced international standards, enhancing the competitiveness of China's economic and legal systems through institutional opening up, advocating for rule-of-law inclusiveness rooted in the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, adhering to the economic rule-of-law security bottom line derived from the holistic approach to national security, and promoting the "going global" of China's institutional standards in the international economic governance landscape. To establish and improve China's new open economic system, we need to promote progress in international rule-of-law concepts with inclusive thinking, introduce and implement advanced international economic and trade rules with open thinking, implement the deep integration of reform and opening up within the socialist rule-of-law system with breakthrough thinking, and enhance China's institutional discourse power in global economic governance with innovative thinking.

面对世界百年未有之大变局，将稳步扩大制度型开放作为高水平对外开放的依托，对于中国日益走近世界舞台中央的历史进程具有深远影响。我国制度型开放的基本逻辑在于，要促进国内规章制度对标国际先进标准，以制度型开放提升我国经济法律制度的竞争力，倡导源于人类命运共同体理念的法治包容，坚持源于总体国家安全观的经济法治安全底线，在国际经济治理格局中推动我国的制度标准“走出去”。要建立健全我国开放型经济新体制，需要我们以包容性思维推动国际法治理念进步，以开放性思维引进和实施先进国际经贸规则，以突破性思维落实社会主义法治体系中改革与开放的深度融合，以创新性思维提升我国制度在全球经济治理中的制度性话语权。

(The author is a professor at Shenyang Normal University)

（作者系沈阳师范大学教授）

Online editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心