China expands high-level opening-up to the outside world

Opening up is a distinctive symbol of Chinese path to modernization

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that "openness is an important driving force for the progress of human civilization and a necessary path for the prosperity and development of the world." The Central Economic Work Conference proposed to expand high-level opening up to the outside world, stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment

Promoting reform and development through opening up is an important tool for China's modernization construction to continuously achieve new achievements, and it is also an active response to changes in the external situation. Since the beginning of the year, various regions and departments have steadily expanded institutional openness, actively connected with international high standard economic and trade rules, relied on the advantages of China's super large market, enhanced openness capabilities in expanding international cooperation, and built a new system of higher-level open economy

Orderly expand independent and unilateral opening up, steadily expand institutional opening up

This Spring Festival, inbound tourism has become a major highlight.

In addition to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other places, more treasure towns and niche villages are welcoming tourists from all over the world. Whether experiencing the scenery of Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie, Hunan or watching a traditional puppet show in Ren'an Village, Jinyun, Zhejiang, the Chinese travel radius for foreign tourists continues to expand and extend. According to online platform data, during the Spring Festival holiday, inbound ticket orders increased by 180% year-on-year, and inbound hotel orders increased by over 60% year-on-year

Behind the popularity of inbound tourism is China's pragmatic efforts to expand its independent and unilateral opening-up in an orderly manner. At present, China has achieved comprehensive visa free access for ordinary passports with 26 countries, and unilaterally granted visa free entry to 38 countries

Both independent opening up and unilateral opening up are important ways for China to actively open up its market to the world. In the current situation where economic globalization is facing setbacks, it sends a strong signal that China is determined to expand high-level opening up to the outside world, which helps to strengthen cooperation and connections with countries around the world, promote global common opening up and development prosperity

Proactively aligning with international high standard economic and trade rules, and expanding the global network of high standard free trade zones

On January 1st, the China Maldives Free Trade Agreement officially came into effect, with both sides achieving zero tariffs on products and imports accounting for over 95% of the total

After the agreement comes into effect, the import tariff rate for washing machines in Maldives will be directly reduced from 20% to zero Wu Tong, the relevant person in charge of Hisense International Marketing Co., Ltd., introduced that it is expected that by 2025, the company will enjoy a tariff reduction of nearly 420000 yuan for exporting home appliances to Malaysia, which plays an important role in stabilizing orders and expanding the market

In 2025, our free trade agreement negotiation agenda is very rich Li Yongqing, Deputy Representative of the Ministry of Commerce for International Trade Negotiations, introduced that we will sign free trade agreements with more willing countries and regions, expand the global network of high standard free trade zones, implement effective free trade agreements with high quality, and better benefit the enterprises and people of China and its free trade partners

Implement the strategy of upgrading free trade pilot zones and encourage pioneering and integrated exploration

Promoting the high-quality development of free trade pilot zones and creating a new highland of institutional openness is a new connotation and requirement for high-level opening up to the outside world under the new situation

Foreign funded financial institutions are allowed to carry out new financial services of the same kind as Chinese funded financial institutions, make a decision on the application of financial institutions to carry out relevant services within 120 days, and support cross-border purchase of certain types of overseas financial services in accordance with the law... In January, five departments, including the People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration of Financial Supervision, the CSRC, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, jointly issued the Opinions on Promoting Institutional Opening of Conditional Pilot Free Trade Zones (Hong Kong) in the Financial Field to International High Standards, proposing 20 policies and measures in six aspects, and further promoting the institutional opening of the pilot free trade zones in the financial field

The relevant person in charge of the People's Bank of China said that, in the next step, we will work with relevant departments to promote the implementation of various measures, conscientiously do a good job in the pilot connection of the pilot free trade zone (port) in the financial field with international high standards to promote institutional opening, and continue to promote China's high level of opening to the outside world

Deepen the reform of the foreign trade system and promote stable and high-quality foreign trade

Currently, Yiwu, the "world supermarket", is very busy.

On February 6th, a special meeting was held in Yiwu, Zhejiang. The main focus is on two things, deepening the comprehensive reform of Yiwu international trade and the construction of the China Europe freight train assembly center

In December 2024, the State Council approved the Overall Plan for Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of International Trade in Yiwu City, Zhejiang Province. Afterwards, Yiwu accelerated the exploration of new paths for foreign trade development under the new situation

Across the street from Yiwu International Trade City, the construction of the Global Data Trade Center is accelerating and is expected to open in October this year. The original intention of building the Global Digital Trade Center is to better meet the needs of business entities in the digital trade era, "said Wang Dong, Chairman of Yiwu Small Commodity City Group. The next step is to promote the digital upgrading of" people, goods, venues, and chains "in an integrated manner, and comprehensively promote the upgrading of the Yiwu market

In 2025, the biggest challenge facing China's foreign trade development is the impact of the external environment. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism will cast a shadow over the prospects of global trade and investment cooperation. However, it should also be noted that there are still many favorable conditions for the development of foreign trade in 2025, "said Meng Yue, the head of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, emphasizing the need to focus on the keyword of high-quality development and promote stable growth in foreign trade

Actively develop green trade and digital trade, and cultivate new driving forces for foreign trade growth

At the Guangdong Province High Quality Development Conference held on February 5th, Shenzhen identified cross-border e-commerce as a key lever for stabilizing foreign trade

When engineers in New York use drones from Shenzhen, when girls in Paris wear Hanfu from Guangzhou, and when African families play with Chaoshan dolls, it's not just about the flow of goods, but also about technology sharing and cultural exchange Vice Mayor of Shenzhen, Luo Huanghao, said that currently, Shenzhen has gathered 120000 cross-border e-commerce sellers and attracted 4/5 of the top 20 cross-border e-commerce platforms in the world, making it the preferred destination for global cross-border e-commerce

In Zhuhai, Gongbei Customs, in collaboration with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, has pioneered the Hengqin Guangdong Macao Deep Cooperation Zone Customs Bank Trade Digital Innovation Laboratory, which has implemented industry first scenarios such as "Gongdun E-Pass", "Cross border E-commerce Retail Import Tax Guarantee Electronic", and "Customs Bank Hong Kong Macao Supply e-Loan" to alleviate financing difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises. Relevant scenarios have been promoted to 85 regions in 25 provinces in China

In 2024, China's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reached 2.63 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.8%. The potential and advantages of "selling globally" and "buying globally" continue to be released, making positive contributions to stabilizing China's foreign trade

Zhao Fujun, Director of the Comprehensive Research Office of the Foreign Economic Research Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, believes that by 2025, in the development of digital trade, it is necessary to consolidate the foundation of cross-border e-commerce and digital trade development with characteristic and advantageous industries in various regions, and support the development of digital trade, including cross-border e-commerce, with unique characteristics in various regions

Jointly build the "the Belt and Road" with high quality and expand the circle of foreign trade friends

"At present, the company's overseas markets cover 48 countries and regions in Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, etc., many of which are countries jointly building the the Belt and Road." Yang Fan, the person in charge of Zhejiang Yongchang Electric Co., Ltd., said that he hopes to sell his products to more co built national markets and become a new growth point for the company's foreign trade business

In 2024, the share of countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" in China's total import and export value exceeded 50% for the first time, and the cumulative number of China EU trains exceeded 100000. Jointly building the markets of countries and regions along the "the Belt and Road" has become one of the "ballast stones" for China's foreign trade quality to rise steadily

"It is expected that China will make new achievements in actively expanding emerging markets in 2025, especially in improving the level of economic and trade cooperation with countries along the the Belt and Road, which will provide strong support for China's foreign trade to maintain a stable growth trend." Liu Xiangdong, Deputy Director of the Scientific Research and Information Department of the China International Economic Exchange Center, believes that with the steady progress of high-quality co construction of the "the Belt and Road" and the increasingly improved network of high standard free trade zones, China's foreign trade development still has greater room for expansion

Create a favorable environment and continue to build the "Invest in China" brand

New Year's atmosphere, with frequent news of foreign investment in China -

On January 6th, Volkswagen Group (China) announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with Xiaopeng Motors to cooperate in building an ultra fast charging network;; On January 15th, the opening ceremony of the Asian headquarters and new factory of Italy's Baiwang Group was held in Suzhou High tech Zone, which will provide advanced solutions in the fields of polymer and industrial refrigeration; On January 23rd, Air Liquide Group of France signed a contract with domestic enterprises to jointly build a biomass based biogas green methanol project in Yancheng, Jiangsu. After completion, the project plans to consume about 4 million tons of livestock and poultry manure annually and produce 180 million cubic meters of green biogas annually... In 2025, global competition for investment will become increasingly fierce. To do a good job in stabilizing foreign investment, it is necessary to stabilize the stock and expand the increment, so that foreign investment can operate in China with peace of mind, peace of mind, and confidence

Subtract from the negative list and continuously lower the market access threshold for foreign-funded enterprises

Planning 500 beds and 12 clean operating rooms, introducing Singapore's "shared healthcare" management model, the Tianjin Pengruili Hospital established at the end of last year is ready

On December 16, 2024, Tianjin issued the first medical institution practice license for a "wholly foreign-owned tertiary comprehensive hospital". Pengruili Group from Singapore has become the first foreign-funded enterprise to "eat the crab" - Pengruili General Hospital, established through investment, has become the first foreign-owned tertiary general hospital in China

Hospitals serve residents with one-stop medical needs and cater to overseas medical tourism customers Peng Ruili Group's Executive Chairman and CEO, Pan Xiyuan, said, "We are full of confidence in the prospects of China's medical and health market."

Allow the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and other places, promote the "zero tolerance" of foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing industry, and hold 28 "Invest in China" investment promotion activities at home and abroad... In 2024, China will continue to relax market access, allowing more foreign investment to enter.. In 2024, 59080 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established nationwide, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, stated that by 2025, the Ministry will steadily promote the opening up of the service industry, expand pilot projects for opening up in telecommunications, healthcare, education and other fields, and revise and expand the Catalogue of Industries Encouraging Foreign Investment to enhance the attractiveness of investment attraction policies

Add up the business environment and create a stable, transparent, and predictable institutional environment

On February 5th, Shanghai held a conference on optimizing the business environment. At the meeting, the focus was on releasing the Action Plan for Optimizing the Business Environment 8.0 in Shanghai, which marks the first working day after the Spring Festival for the city to hold a city wide business environment conference for 8 consecutive years

Foreign funded enterprise Anbofu attaches great importance to the business environment policy. Yang Xiaoming, President of Anbofu Asia Pacific, stated that international enterprises face different regulations from local governments in their operations and investments. Shanghai has continuity in tax incentives, simplified approval procedures, and supervision of enterprises

Wang Xiaohong, a researcher at the China International Economic Exchange Center, said that in order to create a fair competitive market environment, it is necessary to ensure that all types of business entities use all types of production factors equally and participate in market competition fairly, implement national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises in government procurement, standard setting, and other aspects, and create a first-class business environment through high-level opening up to the outside world, promoting the open economy to reach a new level