Opinion | China must keep opening up to boost reform
Hu Shuli says the government is right to renew calls for liberalisation in trade, services and governance to build a fair and open market economy
From the start, China's reform and opening up have been two halves of a whole. Yet, in recent years, signs of "closed-door reform" have emerged and in some cases have been put into practice. This is why Premier Li Keqiang's renewed call to push for reform by opening up is notable.
During a trip to Jiangsu and Shanghai late last month, Li said China's reform cannot be separated from its efforts to open up; in fact, opening up provides the push for reform. There's still room in today's China to speed up reform by opening up, he said, and we must "continue to open up so as to break through old ideas and outdated systems".
Li's view was shared by Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli, who told an audience at the China Development Forum last month that if China is to press on with reform, it must insist on opening up, which is needed now more than ever before.
China's development since 1978 makes this point clear. From the establishment of the special economic zones then to China's entry into the World Trade Organisation in 2001, liberalisation has played a major role in the country's progress towards becoming a free-market economy and a law-based society. Without opening up, there would have been no Chinese economic miracle to speak of.
Deng Xiaoping said China must open up not only towards the outside world, but also internally. How is the country faring today?
The pace of opening up to the outside world has clearly slowed since China became a WTO member, especially after the global financial crisis. The forces of resistance include trade protectionists who want to restrict foreign business, as well as those who argue the complacent view that a fast-growing China needs no one else. These narrow, short-sighted views have become the biggest obstacle to opening up.