Nation remains committed to reform, opening-up

Forty years ago, China created four special economic zones in the southeastern coastal cities of Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou in Guangdong province and Xiamen in Fujian province as part of the country's opening-up drive to encourage foreign investment and boost economic growth.

Ever since then, by adhering to its fundamental State policy of opening-up, China has aligned itself with the economic globalization process, and emerged to be the world's second-largest economy.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged the world economy into recession, China remains committed to expanding opening-up to bolster its high-quality growth and to promoting globalization and inclusive development.

Speaking at a symposium on economic and social work on Monday, President Xi Jinping stressed the importance of higher-level opening-up in international cooperation and competition, and reiterated that opening-up remains China's fundamental policy.

He underlined the need to actively develop cooperation with countries, regions and enterprises that are willing to partner with China, including individual states, local partners and companies from the United States, in order to form an all-around, multifaceted opening-up structure.

While adhering to opening-up, Xi said the country should also coordinate security with development, make efforts to enhance competitiveness and improve its risk oversight, prevention and control capabilities.

Observers said that, against the backdrop that the US keeps raising its rhetoric against Beijing and escalating confrontation with the "new Cold War", China's consistent policy of opening-up holds the key to its post-pandemic development and will also inject greater confidence and momentum into the world economy.

Zhou Fangyin, president of the School of International Relations at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said that in the current situation, China's wider opening to the world will help frustrate US attempts to contain it on the international stage, although the policy cannot result in changes to Washington's anti-China strategy.

Through bilateral and multilateral cooperation with more countries, China will use its concrete steps in reform and opening-up to reduce the impact of anti-globalization caused by unilateralism and protectionism, hence contributing to its growth and bringing hope for world economic recovery from the fallout of COVID-19, Zhou said.

A recent meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee set the tone for the country's economic policy based on the uncertainties and problems that are likely to exist in the medium and long term. It called for a "dual circulation "development pattern in which the domestic economic cycle plays a leading role while the international economic cycle remains its extension and supplement.