Wang Peng

Amid the headwinds facing economic globalization, certain countries have attempted to restructure global industrial chains through trade protectionism, which poses serious challenges to the multilateral trading system. 

But history has proven that the underlying logic of globalization - driven by technological progress, market integration, and industrial synergy - remains unchanged. Against this backdrop, China has been committed to openness, leveraging high-standard opening-up to stabilize its own economy while serve as a steadfast force in safeguarding globalization.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), China achieved major breakthroughs in opening-up. In particular, the pilot free trade zones in the country have tried out a spate of institutional innovations. These innovations have injected vitality into the zones, improving the overall business environment for enterprises across the country. 

And, the continued shortening of the "negative list" for foreign investment, along with new measures implemented in many sectors such as finance and telecommunications, speaks of China's determination to lower barriers for foreign enterprises. The measures have demonstrated the country's sincerity in attracting foreign capital, while allowing Chinese consumers to enjoy more diverse, high-quality products and services.

The scale and influence of exhibitions such as the China International Import Expo (CIIE) and the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) have continued to grow in the past years. The CIIE offers a platform for global companies to showcase new products, new technologies, and new services, facilitating exchanges, cooperation, and trade deals. Meanwhile, the CIFTIS focuses on services trade, driving the development of global services and injecting new momentum into world economic growth. 

The success of these exhibitions underscores the immense appeal of the Chinese market that builds a robust bridge for international economic and trade exchanges.

On the rules front, the full implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has significantly helped reduce regional trade costs, enhanced trade facilitation, and fostered deeper integration of regional industrial and supply chains, injecting new momentum top economic growth in the Asia-Pacific. And, China's active participation in negotiations on new rules such as the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) highlights its role in shaping global trade governance.

China's opening-up has brought multiple positive impacts on the global economy, injecting stability into a turbulent global landscape. As the world's second-largest consumer market and the largest trader in goods, China's continuously expanding market access offers certainty for multinational companies. 

Against the backdrop of rising global economic uncertainty, China's vast market size and stable growth have attracted numerous multinational companies to invest and operate in the country, providing crucial support for the stable functioning of global industrial chains and serving as a "stabilizer" for the world economy.

Furthermore, China has consistently shared development opportunities with other countries in an open attitude. In the green sector, China has turned its technological advantages and production capacity in areas like photovoltaics and wind power into global public goods. 

This not only assists regions such as Southeast Asia and Africa in reforming their energy structures but also creates new economic growth drivers through close cooperation in green supply chains. In the digital economy, China continues to open its digital services sector and actively participates in international discussions on cross-border data flow and digital intellectual property protection. 

These efforts offer foreign companies vast market opportunities while helping developing countries narrow the "digital divide" through building up interconnected digital infrastructure projects, enabling more nations to share in the efficiency gains and economic growth brought by digital innovations.

Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), China's opening-up is poised to enter a new phase, which aligns with the needs of domestic high-quality development. China's future opening-up will place greater emphasis on rule alignment and mutual recognition of standards. By strengthening cooperation with other countries in areas such as trade, investment, and intellectual property, China aims to reduce trade barriers, and facilitate free trade. 

There will be a stronger focus on cross-border flow of innovation results, recognizing innovation as the primary driver of economic growth in the world. China is committed to addressing global development imbalances by strengthening cooperation with the developing countries, ramping up assistances to those countries, and helping them enhance their own development capabilities, thereby ensuring that the benefits of globalization are shared more broadly among all nations.

The author is an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn