|
HIGH-LEVEL OPENING-UP The CPC leadership meeting reiterated China's commitment to
high-level opening-up and the high-quality development of the Belt and
Road Initiative. "China is well equipped with the conditions for promoting high-level
opening-up," said Zhou Maohua, an analyst with the China Everbright
Bank, citing the country's deepening supply-side structural reform and
more mature supervision laws and regulations. Since the beginning of 2021, the country has expanded its opening-up
with concrete measures. In July alone, China pledged proactive efforts
toward a higher level of financial openness based on a negative list
approach, issued a guideline to support high-level reform and opening-up
of the Pudong New Area in Shanghai, and released a negative list for
cross-border trade in services in its southern island province of
Hainan, the first negative list for services trade in the country. Despite a complex and severe external environment, China's economic
and trade cooperation with other countries and regions is thriving.
Analysts believe the momentum will continue as the economy generates
more opportunities with its doors opening wider. The country's foreign trade navigated epidemic-induced challenges to
become a major support to the international logistics supply chain in
the first half of this year. The China-Europe freight train service, a
window to the transcontinental trade, handled 7,377 trips, up 43 percent
from the same period last year. Around 94,000 tonnes of anti-pandemic
supplies were shipped through the route as of late June, reinforcing the
global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. During the period, the growth rate of China's trade value with its
top three trading partners -- the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, the European Union, and the United States -- stood at 27.8
percent, 26.7 percent and 34.6 percent, respectively, official data
showed. China's trade with countries along the Belt and Road rose 27.5
percent year on year to stand at 5.35 trillion yuan (827.5 billion U.S.
dollars), while trade with countries of the Regional Comprehensive
Economic Partnership grew 22.7 percent year on year. Foreign investors have continued to cast a vote of confidence in the
country's opening-up. In the first half of this year, foreign direct
investment into the Chinese mainland, in actual use, jumped 33.9 percent
year on year to 91 billion dollars, the highest growth pace in almost
10 years, according to the commerce ministry.
| 
Related News
