/ world today news/ One of the key events for the post-pandemic recovery of the world was the opening of China at the beginning of this year. It has served as an engine for global economic growth and post-Covid recovery. But the Chinese tradition of opening is much older and not limited to this. In 1978, China began the policy of reform and opening up, as well as the establishment of “socialism with Chinese characteristics”. This policy is still a fact, and today’s Chinese leadership zealously adheres to the idea of opening up and reform.
It is thanks to these reforms that the People’s Republic of China succeeded in eradicating poverty in its territory, as well as embarking on the course of establishing a more just and prosperous society. Within these policies and in just 45 years, China has achieved incredible successes. From just 1.8% of the world economy in 1978, it is 18.5% of the world economy in 2022. And GDP per capita has increased from $155 in the 1970s to over $12,500 today.
In the Forbes ranking of the 500 largest companies in the world in 2020, China is the leader with as many as 124 companies on the list. And the “One Belt One Road” initiative proves that China’s opening is not one-sided – only for Western investment in China, but it is multilateral, because the Chinese state and businesses have invested hundreds of billions in the countries that are part of this initiative.
Xi Jinping recently emphasized that efforts should be made to form new systems for an open economy with high standards, and that the opening of the country should be proactive on the part of the authorities.
According to the Chinese leader, institutions should be opened up, for example, and reforms should be deepened in key areas such as global exchange and cooperation, investment, trade, finance and innovation. This also includes expanding access to markets as well as optimizing the business environment.
According to a number of experts, Xi’s remarks sent a powerful signal to businesses, both in China and abroad. These statements provide an impetus to increase international exchange and cooperation, as well as to reject the unilateralism and protectionism we see in some Western countries.
This is in stark contrast to the policies of “risk reduction”, “unbundling”, “containment” and disruption of logistics chains pursued by some hawks in the West. On the contrary, China is showing that its door is open to cooperation. And it is apparent that many in the West, especially in business circles, prefer the Chinese approach and seek more cooperation with China and Chinese businesses.
Another clear example of China’s greater international cooperation, exchange and opening up is the fact that the country has recently been visited by the heads of some major Western corporations, including Elon Musk, Bill Gates and Tim Cook. It is evident that for Western business circles, the opening of China is welcome and is not seen as a threat, but as a convenient opportunity.
Today, the main locomotive of globalism, although not the one-sided neoliberal globalism, but the alternative and fair globalism, is China. At the bottom of Chinese politics sit the concepts of multilateral diplomacy, economic globalization and interconnectedness, free trade, and opposition to protectionism and the politicization of the economy.
Recently, however, some Western media have begun to throw around claims that “foreign capital is leaving China” and that Beijing is “hitting foreign businesses” in the framework of some supposed anti-espionage campaign. However, practice shows that it is not the Chinese economy that will fail, but the aggressive rhetoric of some irresponsible international actors.
However, it turns out that there are very few businesses that would withdraw from China, most often this happens under pressure from foreign governments, and other foreign businesses seek to immediately take their place. Indicative in this regard is a survey from October, according to which over 80 percent of foreign businesses that have invested in China are satisfied with their business development in the country, including this year.
China’s steady economic recovery and proactive policies of opening up and reform have boosted foreign business confidence. Moreover, as we said earlier, China has consistently promoted a comprehensive and high-quality opening to the whole world. Chinese government officials have repeatedly said that China’s doors will not be closed, but on the contrary, will be opened even wider.
The 6th China International Import Expo, which is the world’s largest such event, was held recently, attracting 3,400 different businesses. If these businesses did not trust China or were worried about its policies, would they attend the exhibition? It is evident that the interest in the huge Chinese market is increasing.
As the world’s largest trading country, China has adopted a policy of opening up, developing its super-large consumer market, and injecting confidence and security into the global economy. The country is the preferred business partner in almost the entire world, and this is no accident.
China’s opening-up policies, both this year post-Covid and more broadly since 1978, are what have fueled global economic development. Unfortunately, some countries only talk about globalization (in their own, distorted and neo-colonial version), but in practice they follow protectionist policies and wage customs wars, which has burdened the spirit of modern times.
The policy of these countries is to crush all competition by any means possible and play zero-sum games, believing that in international politics and trade, there can only be one winner. Fortunately, China does not follow such a course and continues its alternative policy of opening up and economic cooperation, thanks to which not only itself but its many partners around the world are developing.
After all, these same politicians and countries who express doubts about the opening of China and the Chinese economy, and who want “reduction of risk”, are the ones who lobbied against Chinese companies such as Huawei and more. At the same time, entirely in the spirit of protectionism from the 19th century.
But it seems their efforts to stop China or wider economic cooperation in Eurasia and beyond are not succeeding, as Sino-European trade, for example, is only growing. And thanks to its opening up, today the People’s Republic of China is the country with more than 1 billion Internet users, which has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, and which has managed to connect dozens of countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Pacific in a single trade and infrastructure-transportation network. region.
Here are some more facts about the successes of China’s opening-up policy. According to Stephen Barnett, the International Monetary Fund’s China representative, China’s economy is well above the average for all of humanity, and its contribution to the global economy could be almost a third by the end of 2024.
During this year’s Tianjin Forum, Barnett said that China has been able to maintain its economic growth despite fine trends. According to the IMF, global economic growth will be 3 percent in 2023, of which 0.9 percent will be China’s contribution. Or to put it another way, China actually contributes a third to global economic growth.
In the first three quarters, China’s GDP grew by 5.2 percent, and the data released for the industry, service sector and investment sector are very promising and positive for the Chinese economy. Again, Barnett of the IMF revealed that the consumption of the Chinese population increased by as much as 14.7 percent compared to 2019 (before the pandemic). In the first three quarters, sales of consumer products reached 34.21 trillion yuan, or $4.68 trillion. Impressive figures that show that China’s growth and market are not only not declining, but also developing very positively, thanks to opening up and reforms.
Barnett himself, perhaps speaking with the voice of the institution he represents, called for closer business and trade ties and cooperation to create drivers of global economic growth. In other words, even Western financial institutions are taking a positive view of China’s opening up and calling for more cooperation with the country.
It looks like China’s opening up and reforms will continue, and with it a ray of hope will shine for the entire world economy, whose prospects otherwise do not look very good. A number of developed economies are already in recession, and it is cooperation with a more open and reformed China that can revitalize their economies. The same applies to Bulgaria, which certainly has something to gain from deepening cooperation with China, especially since our country can benefit from it much more easily, now that the PRC itself is leading a purposeful policy of opening up.
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