It is China that has taken the initiative to open up against the trend, bringing "spring breeze of opening up" to the world economy, which is struggling to recover in the shadow of COVID-19.

Openness is the defining feature of contemporary China. Opening-up has been the driving force behind China's economic development over the past four decades and more. To achieve high-quality economic development in the future, China must also be more open

As the New Year draws to a close, zhoushan Port in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, sees a prosperous and orderly scene with huge ships breaking waves and collecting cards. The prosperity of the port reflects the fervor of foreign trade.

In the first 11 months of this year, China's foreign trade maintained a rapid growth trend. The total value of imports and exports reached US $5.47 trillion, up 31.3% year on year, exceeding that of the whole of last year and hitting a new record high.

The hard-won growth of foreign trade has overcome numerous difficulties at home and abroad. As COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, major ports have different degrees of resumption of work and production. Problems such as the absence of returning containers, the difficulty of finding a single container at home, and the accumulation of empty containers abroad all exist at the same time. International logistics freight rates have soared and the time-effectiveness has been affected, and the punctuality rate of global trunk routes dropped from 73.6% last May to 17% in October this year. Bottlenecks in international trade industry chains and supply chains are increasing. Higher raw material prices are also pushing up trade costs.

Risks and challenges continue to pile up, and China's foreign trade is still doing well, thanks to China's strategic determination to open wider to the outside world. We will continue to promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and encourage the development of new forms and models of business such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehousing. From hosting the Canton Fair, the China Import Expo, the China Services Trade Expo and the China Consumer Goods Expo, to applying for accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership... A series of initiatives to open our arms to the outside world demonstrate our confidence and determination to further promote high-level opening-up.

General Secretary Xi Jinping has stressed that "opening up is the only way to prosperity and progress of human society." At present, the world is undergoing century-old changes and the pandemic is intertwined, and unilateralism and protectionism are on the rise. Relevant studies show that the "World Openness Index" has been declining over the past decade, weakening the global consensus on openness. However, international economic connectivity and exchanges remain an objective requirement of world economic development. In fact, it is China that has taken the initiative to open up against the trend, bringing "spring breeze of opening up" to the world economy, which is struggling to recover in the shadow of COVID-19. In the first half of this year, China's super-large market contributed 14.8% to global import growth. High-quality belt and Road cooperation will deliver development opportunities and benefits to more countries and people... As China opens wider to the outside world, the road to win-win outcomes will also become wider.

To deepen opening-up at a high level is not only to create new advantages in international cooperation and competition, but also to promote high-quality development. Opening up is an important driving force for China's sustained and rapid economic development. Under the new development landscape, China will open its door wider to the outside world. China's economy is highly resilient and its fundamentals remain sound in the long run. However, under the triple pressure of shrinking demand, supply shock and weakening expectations, it is all the more necessary to promote deep-seated reform and high-quality development through high-quality opening-up. On the demand side, expanding imports will help enrich domestic market supply and meet consumers' needs for personalized, diversified and high-quality consumption upgrading. On the supply side, opening-up will facilitate the import of high-quality resources from around the world into China, bring into full play the catfish effect, promote market competition, and promote industrial transformation and upgrading. It is expected that No matter how the international landscape may change, China's resolve and determination to open wider to the outside world will give foreign companies confidence in setting down roots in China. In the first 11 months of this year, China's actual use of foreign investment reached 1.042.2 billion yuan, up 15.9 percent year on year, continuing the trend of steady improvement.

Openness is the defining feature of contemporary China. Opening-up has been the driving force behind China's economic development over the past four decades and more. To achieve high-quality economic development in the future, China must also be more open. By taking the initiative to open wider to the outside world, China will be able to gain strategic initiative in a complex and grim situation. It will also provide a bigger market and create more opportunities for the world.