Recently, Professor Yu Miaojie, Fellow of the International Economic Association (IEA) and President of Liaoning University (LNU), was interviewed by Guangming Daily on China’s development resilience. The full text of the report is reproduced below:
On December 18, the official launch of island-wide customs closure operation of Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) took place. This is not only an upgrade of customs supervision models but also a crucial step for China to improve its policy and institutional advantages and test its governance effectiveness in the global context. Its spillover effects extend far beyond a single island or region, bringing more benefits and dividends to people’s livelihoods.
Recently, the Central Economic Work Conference identified “adhering to opening-up and promoting win-win cooperation in multiple fields” as one of the key tasks for China’s economic work next year. It also deployed specific measures such as “steadily advancing institutional opening-up”, “deepening the reform of the foreign investment promotion system and mechanism”, and “promoting the signing of more regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements”. These efforts have created a more stable and effective policy environment for us to further construct a new development pattern with the domestic big cycle as the main body and the domestic and international dual cycles promoting each other.
China has long adhered to opening-up, promoted win-win cooperation with countries around the world in multiple fields, and pursued inclusive and fair economic globalization. Currently, China is the world’s largest goods trading nation and the second-largest service trading nation, with both outward direct investment (ODI) and foreign direct investment (FDI) ranking among the top globally. In 2024, the goods trade volume between China and countries along the Belt and Road reached 22.1 trillion yuan, contributing 67.8% to China’s foreign trade growth. Looking ahead, facing the increasing uncertainty and instability of external demand, we need to take actions from the following aspects to enhance the resilience and risk resistance of China’s economy.
Deepening factor-oriented openness dividends and vigorously advancing institutional openness can be achieved by promoting deeper opening-up in capital, talent, intermediate goods, energy, technology, management, and other factors, thereby unleashing the benefits of factor-oriented openness. For instance, leveraging our comprehensive competitive advantages to attract specialized talents from overseas contributes to creating an environment where “the world’s talents are gathered and put to good use.” Continuing to advance unilateral, bilateral, or multilateral openness, reducing tariffs on imported intermediate goods, and integrating imported intermediate goods with domestic ones can achieve a synergistic effect where “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Efforts in rules, regulations, governance, and standards help form new dividends of institutional openness. Active participation in new multilateral trade and investment agreements, along with proposing high-quality international trade rules and regulations suited to China’s national conditions, can gradually guide new trends in international trade and investment. Specifically, optimizing the layout of pilot free trade zones and solidly advancing the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port are key steps. The development of the Hainan Free Trade Port represents a major decision by the central leadership in the new era of comprehensive reform and opening-up. As an important gateway for China’s opening-up in the new era, the Hainan Free Trade Port has become a new frontier for China’s institutional openness. Its development aligns with high-level international openness models, offering more opportunities and stable expectations for domestic and foreign enterprises. Data show that over a hundred countries and regions have invested in Hainan, demonstrating significant achievements in attracting foreign investment. Moving forward, accelerating related developments involves establishing modern industrial systems in areas such as blue skies, oceans, green development, digital technologies, and seed industries. Enhancing innovation capabilities, improving industrial structures, removing institutional barriers, and reducing trade costs will help build a new hub for cooperation and mutual benefit, fostering a new engine for economic globalization.
Orderly and gradual expansion of autonomous openness in the service sector, along with accelerating the integration of trade and investment as well as domestic and foreign trade, is essential. Autonomous openness in service trade should focus on expanding scale, adjusting structure, and building distinctive features. On one hand, multiple measures can expand the total volume of service trade, broaden growth spaces, and build a comprehensive, multi-level trade promotion system. On the other hand, introducing relevant policies and measures can effectively reduce trade deficits, particularly in areas such as tourism, education abroad, finance, and healthcare. For example, expanding “visa-on-arrival” policies for tourists from friendly countries, comprehensively improving the quality of tourism facilities and services, and reducing language barriers for foreign tourists in China can enhance seamless travel experiences. These efforts help boost inbound tourism consumption and reduce the service trade deficit in tourism.
Currently, some countries pursue trade protectionism and impose high tariff policies on China’s export products. While resolutely safeguarding free trade and conducting countermeasures in a reasonable, beneficial, and moderate manner, we should also actively encourage enterprises to “go global” and carry out horizontal investment of the “export substitution type”. Proceed in light of local conditions and seek truth from facts, and strive to promote greenfield investment and merger and acquisition investment. At the same time, further promote the integration of global value chains and industrial chains, vigorously advance the level of vertical investment of the “export complementarity type”, support the export of Chinese products, and truly realize the integrated promotion of trade and investment. In addition, ensure that domestic and foreign trade products meet the “Three Identicals” standard—same quality, same production line, and same standard—through the establishment of such a system. With the help of digital trade, simultaneously improve the quality of domestic and foreign trade products, and realize the “dual circulation” at the product level.
Moreover, deepening the reform of the foreign investment system and mechanism and promoting the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative are also key measures. On one hand, foreign-invested enterprises are allowed to enjoy “pre-establishment national treatment,” and on the basis of relaxing foreign investment access, an open, fair, and just business environment is created, enabling foreign enterprises to feel a sense of gain from investing in China. On the other hand, by improving the services of overseas warehouses, the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative is promoted, truly achieving mutual consultation, joint construction, and shared benefits in trade exchanges. At the same time, based on the coordinated advancement of the “Land Silk Road” and the “Maritime Silk Road,” differentiated development between the two is achieved. For example, the recently held 2025 Maritime Silk Road International Cultural Tourism Festival highlights distinctive features such as international exchange, cohesion of overseas Chinese, integration of culture and tourism, and sharing by all people. It plans content in sections like intangible cultural heritage, art, and national trends, and is committed to creating a cultural and tourism event that is shared globally and participated in by all, injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of culture and tourism.
