Openness brings progress, while isolation inevitably leads to stagnation. China’s development cannot be separated from the world, and the world needs China to thrive as well. Expanding openness, deepening it, and leveraging it to drive reform and development has been a key factor behind China’s continuous achievements. China’s door to the world will not close; it will only open wider.
– Why is China committed to expanding high-level opening-up?
– High-level opening-up is a powerful engine for promoting in-depth reform and high-quality development. Over the past 40 years, China's economic growth was built on openness to the world. Going forward, delivering high-quality development will depend on embracing even broader openness. Today, China remains firmly committed to the path of reform and opening-up. By aligning itself with high-standard international economic and trade rules, China is enhancing the socialist market economy at a higher level and building a world-class business environment characterized by market principles, rule of law, and global standards. To develop new-quality productive forces, it is essential to optimize the allocation of key productive factors such as technology, talent, data, and capital. High-level opening-up enables China to seize opportunities brought by a new round of technological and industrial transformation, attract advanced resources globally, promote industrial upgrade, and foster new strengths in international cooperation and competition.
High-level opening-up is a crucial way to expand domestic demand and better meet the people’s aspirations for a better life. By the end of 2024, nearly 1.24 million foreign-invested enterprises had been established in China. Nearly 700,000 companies in China recorded import and export activities in 2024. Foreign trade and foreign investment directly or indirectly support employment for more than 200 million people in China, of which over 80 million were rural migrant workers. Imported products such as cherries from Chile and white shrimp from Ecuador are widely welcomed by Chinese consumers. Through high-level opening-up, China is better able to leverage both domestic and international markets and resources, and to meet the growing demand for personalized, high-quality, and diversified consumer goods.
High-level opening-up is a proactive step taken by China to foster an open world economy and promote the vision of a community with a shared future for humanity. China upholds true multilateralism, advocates for inclusive and shared economic globalization, plays an active role in global economic governance, and strives to help build an open global economy. Advancing high-level opening-up contributes to building global consensus, sharing Chinese insights and solutions, and creating a favorable environment for global trade, investment, development, and cooperation. It also brings together positive forces that drive economic globalization forward. The Chinese nation has long upheld the belief that “all under heaven belong to one family” and advocates for harmony among nations and shared prosperity for all. By proactively expanding its openness to the world, China can unleash the vast potential of its super-sized domestic market and support the development of other countries through its own growth. This will give greater depth and substance to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.
High-level opening-up is also a strategic choice for addressing external uncertainties and strengthening national security. In the face of instability and uncertainty in the global economy, China stays committed to openness, mutual benefit, and win-win cooperation. On one hand, openness strengthens national capacity. Security is the foundation of development. Development, in turn, reinforces security. Both must be pursued with firm resolve. The more turbulent the environment, the more important it is for China to boldly advance high-level opening-up, to foster growth, and to strengthen the country’s ability to safeguard national security. On the other hand, openness can serve as a means to mitigate risks. As external shocks intensify, expanding international cooperation and deepening participation in global industrial division of labor and collaboration allow China to strengthen its economic ties with other countries. By diversifying imports of bulk commodities, acquiring key technologies, and ensuring resilient supplies of energy and resources, China can better mitigate external shocks and protect the security and stability of its key industrial and supply chains.
– What are China's key strengths in advancing high-level opening-up?
– A massive market with strong consumer demand. China has the world's largest middle-income population. In 2024, the country's per capita GDP reached about 96,000 yuan, making China the world's second-largest consumer market and second-largest importer. In the first half of 2025, China's trade-in policy for five categories of consumer goods generated 1.6 trillion yuan in sales, already exceeding the 1.3 trillion yuan recorded for the entire year of 2024. Looking more closely, the services sector holds enormous potential. In 2024, spending on services accounted for 46.1% of total per capita consumption, indicating significant room for growth. demand for services such as elderly care, childcare, and domestic help is rising rapidly. Nationwide, the number of beds in elderly care facilities only covers 2.8% of the population aged 60 and above. Meanwhile, over 30% of households with children under three years old need childcare services, yet the current enrollment rate is just 7.9%. Service consumption is poised to become a new growth driver.
Competitive edge across the full industrial chain. China has a complete and comprehensive industrial system and is the only country that includes all industrial categories classified by the United Nations, supported by over 200 mature industrial clusters. In regions such as the Yangtze River Delta, industries such as new energy vehicles have developed coordinated clusters with supply chains that can function within a four-hour radius. The robotics industry, for example, is booming thanks to this mature supply network and complete industrial ecosystem, with some companies achieving over 60% localization in their supply chains. China's strong industrial support capabilities provide a smooth and efficient logistics and data transmission network. These full-chain advantages help reduce costs, improve efficiency, and boost competitiveness, increasing China's attractiveness to global resources and production factors.
Strong capacity for scientific and technological innovation. China is home to a large pool of highly skilled workers and entrepreneurs, with the number of scientists and engineers ranking first globally in full time R&D personnel. This growing talent pool is creating a lasting demographic dividend. China is now the second-largest investor in R&D globally and ranks first in patent applications. In the 2024 Global Innovation Index, China placed 11th worldwide. It also has more Lighthouse Factories than any other country, accounting for over 40% of the global total. China's 71 unicorn companies in artificial intelligence account for nearly one-third of the global total. Emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, and next-generation information technology are leading the world, accelerating China's domestic economic transformation and contributing to global progress in green and digital development.
Commitment to global fairness and justice. At a time when unilateralism, protectionism, and the overreach of national security are disrupting global economic and trade systems and infringing upon the legitimate rights and interests of all countries, China remains a strong advocate for inclusive globalization. It firmly supports the multilateral trading system, promotes solidarity and cooperation, and upholds fairness and justice, winning broad international recognition. China promotes a vision of global governance based on wide consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits. Its proposal for building a community with a shared future for humanity has evolved from a national initiative to a widely supported international consensus. The Hongqiao International Economic Forum has published the World Openness Report and World Openness Index for four consecutive years, making it an important global platform for building consensus on openness.
As President Xi Jinping has emphasized: “Only an open China can become a modernized China.” Going forward, China will pursue better-quality opening-up with higher-quality development, promote higher-standard opening-up with deepened reform, strive for stronger opening-up through inclusive economic globalization, and delivering more secure opening-up by balancing development and security.
By Yu Hongchi, Counselor for Economic Affairs, Chinese Embassy in Azerbaijan
