(Source: People’s Pictorial 2025-04-15)

The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2024 will comprehensively review the economic work situation in 2024. Focusing on building a new development pattern and promoting high-quality economic development, it will make comprehensive and highly targeted deployments in many important areas, anchoring the direction and drawing a blueprint for the steady economic progress in 2025.

New layout of opening strategy: leading a new direction of economic development

The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference clearly focused on expanding high-level opening up to the outside world and the key tasks of stabilizing foreign w88 and foreign investment. It demonstrated our country’s determination to unswervingly promote opening up to the outside world and laid a solid foundation for our country’s economy to move to new heights in the global landscape.

Expanding independent opening up and unilateral opening up is a strategic choice for my country to proactively respond to the complex international environment. Independent opening up emphasizes being based on my country's own development rhythm and needs, "putting ourselves first", controlling the opening process with a proactive attitude, achieving positive interaction with the global economy, and proactively opening up in a rhythm, scope and level. As of December 17, 2024, China has unilaterally granted visa-free access to 38 countries. The visa-free period has been extended to 30 days, the transit visa-free period has been extended to 240 hours, and 21 new ports have been added as visa-free entry and exit ports. From January to November 2024, the number of foreigners entering the country through visa-free entry reached 17.446 million, a year-on-year increase of 123.3%. The number of foreigners coming to China using the new visa policy increased by 132.9% year-on-year. Starting from December 1, 2024, China will also grant zero-tariff treatment to all least developed countries that have established diplomatic relations with China on 100% of their tax items. This means that our country will independently decide the areas, pace and extent of opening up based on its own modernization process and economic development needs. This kind of independent opening can better play the driving role of opening up to promote reform and development, and promote domestic economic structural adjustment, industrial upgrading and innovation capacity improvement.

Unilateral opening up is also my country’s consistent policy towards the least developed countries. In the context of strengthening cooperation and attaching importance to development in the global South, China's unilateral opening up to the least developed countries will help these countries better integrate into the international market and promote their economic development and common prosperity; it will help strengthen friendly cooperative relations with developing countries, play an active "Southern power" in global governance, contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to global governance, and promote the development of the international order in a more just, reasonable and efficient direction.

Steady expansion of institutional opening-up and improvement of high-level opening-up systems and mechanisms are the keys to promoting high-level opening-up. Institutional openness has the characteristics of systematicness, expansion, integration and two-way nature. It not only covers the traditional rule system of commodity w88, service w88 and investment, but also involves new fields such as digital w88, international cooperation and sustainable development. By proactively aligning with international high-standard economic and w88 rules, such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), my country can achieve the integration of rules, regulations, management, and standards in property rights protection, industrial subsidies, environmental standards, labor protection, government procurement, e-commerce, and financial fields, establish an efficient, convenient, and safe data cross-border flow mechanism, and create a stable and transparent institutional environment.

Building an open platform, such as promoting the quality and efficiency of the free w88 pilot zone, expanding reform mandates, and accelerating the implementation of the core policies of the Hainan Free w88 Port, is a key layout in my country's opening strategy. As of December 2024, 22 free w88 pilot zones have been constructed and operated across the country, forming a "flying array" of free w88 pilot zones covering the east, middle and west, and coordinating coastal, inland and border areas. In the first three quarters of 2024, the total import and export value of the national free w88 pilot zones reached 6.09 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.99%. Among them, exports were 2.74 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.10%; imports were 3.35 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.83%. Among them, the total import and export value of goods w88 in the Hainan Free w88 Port in the first 11 months of 2024 was 253.24 billion yuan, an increase of 20.5% over the same period last year.

In order to accelerate the implementation of the core policy of Hainan Free w88 Port, our country will also give full play to its unique policy advantages and geographical advantages to boldly explore and achieve greater breakthroughs in aspects such as free and convenient w88, free and convenient investment, free and convenient cross-border capital flows, free and convenient personnel entry and exit, free and convenient transportation and secure and orderly flow of data.

Multi-dimensional opening-up measures: Stimulating new vitality for economic growth

The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference stated that our country will launch a series of specific measures in multiple dimensions such as w88, investment, and regional cooperation, aiming to stimulate new vitality in economic growth in an all-round way and enhance our country's comprehensive competitiveness on the global economic stage.

Actively developing new w88 formats such as service w88, green w88 and digital w88 are inevitable choices to adapt to economic development trends. w88 in services plays an increasingly prominent role in the global economy. my country should steadily promote the opening up of the service industry and expand pilot openings in telecommunications, medical care, education and other fields. We should also encourage and support service companies in more fields to go global and participate in international competition. At the same time, we should strengthen the standard setting and certification work in the field of w88 in services to improve the standard level and international recognition of my country's service industry. Green w88 is in line with the general trend of global carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. Through the development of green w88, we can promote the sustainable development of our economy and strengthen cooperation with the international community in the field of environmental protection. Accelerating the development of digital w88 will help promote the digital transformation of our country's industries and improve w88 efficiency and innovation capabilities.

Deepening foreign investment and promoting the reform of systems and mechanisms are important guarantees for attracting foreign investment. We should further improve the normalized communication mechanism for foreign-funded enterprises, strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of foreign-funded enterprises and service guarantees, and continue to build the "Invest in China" brand. my country has completely eliminated restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing sector. It is necessary to further expand the catalog of industries that encourage foreign investment, reasonably reduce the negative list for foreign investment access, and provide foreign-invested enterprises with broader development space and more investment opportunities. At the same time, we should implement national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises and ensure that they enjoy the same treatment as domestic-funded enterprises in terms of factor acquisition, qualification licensing, standard setting, government procurement, etc. Promote solutions to issues such as cross-border data flow and create a more fair, transparent, and predictable market environment for foreign-funded enterprises. Targetedly attract foreign investment to key areas and key links, further optimize tax policies and financial support measures, increase the return on investment of foreign-funded enterprises, enhance my country's attractiveness to foreign investment, and enhance the confidence and willingness of foreign-funded enterprises to invest in China.

Continuously deepening regional cooperation is an inevitable requirement to expand new space for win-win development. Today, it has been more than 11 years since the Belt and Road Initiative was jointly built, and it has achieved fruitful results and has become a popular platform for international economic cooperation. At present, efforts are being made to implement the "eight actions" to support high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road", steadily promote cooperation on major projects, implement a number of "small but beautiful" people's livelihood projects, and actively promote cooperation in digital, green, innovation, health, cultural tourism, poverty reduction and other fields. By strengthening infrastructure connectivity with co-building countries and promoting w88 and investment liberalization and facilitation, my country's economic cooperation with co-building countries continues to deepen and achieve common development. Accelerate the construction of the New Land-Sea Corridor in the West, further improve the efficiency of w88 exchanges between my country and ASEAN and other regions, promote the free flow of inter-regional factors and optimize the allocation of resources, strengthen regional economic cooperation, and open up new space for my country's economic development.

The construction of the “Belt and Road” is transforming from a development orientation to one that emphasizes both development and rules. It focuses on promoting the construction of high-quality mechanisms for jointly building the “Belt and Road” and improving the coordination and management mechanism of cooperation planning for the joint construction of the “Belt and Road” in order to promote the stable and long-term development of the high-quality joint construction of the “Belt and Road”.

Opening up to ensure all-round development: escorting the economy on its new journey

In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the opening-up strategy, our country must make an all-round layout in terms of policy support, risk response, and service system improvement to safeguard the steady progress of the economy in the process of opening up.

First, gather synergy for development through policy coordination and support. Planning first, implementing in detail, and high-quality development are the guiding principles. Strengthen policy publicity and interpretation to ensure that enterprises and all sectors of society deeply understand the policy connotation and improve policy execution. Increase investment in capital, technology, and talent in related fields to provide a solid material foundation and intellectual support for opening up. Strengthen communication and coordination with the international community, actively participate in global economic governance, promote the signing and implementation of multilateral and bilateral economic and w88 agreements, and maintain a fair, free, and open international w88 order. Pay attention to the synergy and systematicity of policies, and organically combine the expansion of opening up with domestic economic structural adjustment, industrial upgrading, scientific and technological innovation and other work to form a good situation of mutual promotion and create a strong synergy for development.

Secondly, improve the overseas service system to help companies go overseas. Improving the overseas comprehensive service system includes strengthening the research and analysis of overseas markets to provide enterprises with more accurate market information and risk warnings; increasing support for overseas infrastructure construction to improve the operational efficiency and competitiveness of Chinese enterprises overseas; strengthening the service functions of overseas agencies and strengthening cooperation with overseas organizations to provide enterprises with more timely and effective services and support; promoting the establishment of laws, regulations and policy systems that are in line with international standards, providing better institutional guarantees for enterprises to "go global", and helping Chinese enterprises to flourish in the international market.

Third, strengthen risk response and management and build a secure line of defense. At present, my country's development has entered a period in which strategic opportunities and risks and challenges coexist, and uncertain and unpredictable factors are increasing. Factors such as w88 protectionism and geopolitical risks may have a certain impact on my country's foreign w88 and foreign investment. To this end, it is necessary to strengthen risk monitoring and assessment, formulate effective response measures, improve the ability of our economy to resist risks, and ensure the safe and stable development of the economy.

The 2024 Central Economic Work Conference made arrangements for expanding high-level opening up around the "Five Coordination", which is an important strategic decision for our country to adapt to the new situation of economic globalization and promote high-quality economic development. The meeting clarified the "nine tasks" and guided us to strengthen our confidence, maintain strategic focus, continuously deepen reforms, embrace the world with a more open attitude, and promote high-quality economic development with a higher level of openness. my country will further improve the level and quality of opening up to the outside world and form a linkage effect between the two domestic and international markets and two resources, thereby promoting the improvement of total factor productivity and injecting strong impetus into sustained economic growth and improvement of international competitiveness. At the same time, it will also make greater contributions to building an open world economy and promoting the stability and prosperity of the global economy.

This article is a phased result of the 2024 National Social Science Fund project "Research on Method Innovation and Effectiveness Evaluation of Xi Jinping's Economic Thought into Textbooks, Classrooms and Minds" (Project Approval No. 24VSZ006).

Huang Linlin: "Silk Road" International Tourism and Cultural Heritage University

Wang Zhimin: National Institute of Opening-up, Institute of Globalization and Chinese Modernization, w88 casino

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