(W.E. Talk) Reform and Opening-up | Zhang Yuyan: What is the "Worldview" of China's Reform and Opening-up?

By Zhang Yuyan，Academician of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of CASS

(This article was originally written in December 12, 2023, and described the situation at that time)

After 45 years of reform and opening-up, China has achieved remarkable development and become more deeply integrated with the world. Accurately understanding the "worldview" that underpinned China's decision to embark on this path is crucial for China to better seize opportunities and address challenges, and for the world to better understand China.

I believe that China's path of reform and opening-up is inseparable from the core theme of peace and development. China's unwavering commitment to peaceful development is influenced by its thousands of years of cultural traditions, the choices of market mechanisms, and its sound judgment of the overall international situation. Promoting peace through development and safeguarding development via peace reflects China's profound understanding of historical trends and is a concrete manifestation of its positive interaction with the world.

China's traditional cultural DNA influences China's foreign interactions

The Chinese people often refer to themselves as "descendants of the dragon (or Loong)", and “dragon culture” is deeply rooted in people's lives throughout history. The symbolic meaning behind it holds the key to unlocking the Chinese character and the nation's cultural DNA, reflecting the fundamental characteristics of Chinese civilization.

Many Westerners perceive the dragon as highly aggressive, even symbols of evil and violence. However, this is far from the dragon's original meaning. Most scholars point out that the dragon is a composite totem deity formed by the fusion of multiple totems. The process of its synthesis and evolution also reflects the integration of different clans, which precisely demonstrates that the cultural DNA of Chinese civilization embrace inclusivity, openness, harmony in diversity, and a pursuit of peace and equality.

The Nine-Dragon Wall in Beijing's Beihai Park. Photo by Liu Huaiyu

The origin and formation of the dragon totem are insightful for people to understand China's chosen path of development and its foreign relations. Just as the dragon totem evolved through a process of fusion, China's approach to international relations also leans toward cooperation-oriented integration. This form of integration is highly inclusive—unlike confrontational or domineering forms, it minimizes costs and is more readily accepted by all parties. This philosophical choice has been deeply embedded in China's reform and opening-up process.

Since the beginning of the reform and opening-up period, China's approach to opening up has gradually shifted from pursuing self-development to promoting shared development. The international community increasingly recognizes that China achieves its own development through opening up without sacrificing the interests of other nations. Moreover, as China develops, it rejects hegemony or zero-sum games. Instead, it pursues shared interests to achieve a win-win outcome.

On May 5, 2023, the first Hunan (Huaihua) RCEP Economy and Trade Expo opened in Huaihua, Hunan. In addition to domestic companies, 112 enterprises from RCEP member countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, and Laos, participated, showcasing local specialty products such as coffee, bird's nest, tea, red wine, and fruit. (Photo by Yang Huafeng)

It can be said that a more open China is continuously contributing to robust, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth of the world economy, as well as to the high-quality development and shared prosperity of all countries. China is playing an increasingly vital role in the high-quality development of the world economy.

The Role of Reform and Opening-up as a Pioneer

In The Wealth of Nations, scholar Adam Smith elaborated the logic of a country's prosperity and development. According to Smith, economic development is manifested by an increase in per capita income, and the sole source of increasing per capita income is the improvement of labor productivity. The fundamental way to boost labor productivity is to enhance the level of division of labor and specialization. The basic condition for the enhancement of division of labor and specialization is the expansion of market scale.

From this, we can derive a theoretical model for promoting economic growth: market scale expansion → increased division of labor and specialization → improved labor productivity → rising per capita income → economic growth. This growth logic can be simplified to the conclusion that economic prosperity comes from the expansion of market size, which is known as "Smith's Theorem" or the "Theory of Absolute Advantage".

One of the primary sources of China's economic miracle over the past 45 years has been the tremendous "gains from trade" achieved through the expansion of its market size. However, in reality, technological progress has always run parallel to market expansion and is primarily reflected in the process of improving the level of division of labor and specialization. Sometimes, it even determines the speed and boundaries of market expansion.

In April 2023, the 3rd China International Consumer Products Expo was held in Haikou, Hainan Province. Tesla Motors brought a variety of models to the exhibition. The picture shows the Model X Plaid attracting visitors. Photo by Luo Yunfei.

Whether it's technological progress or market expansion, both are conditional. These "conditions", in short, are the rules of trade and the institutional arrangements built upon them. This makes the conditions for China's development miracle a trinity: "gains from trade" , "gains from technological progress", and "gains from institutional improvement". It is crucial to emphasize that all three of these conditions depend on a peaceful domestic and international environment. Without peace, none of this would be possible.

Buyers select food products at the 133rd Canton Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, May 2023. (Photo by Chen Jimin)

As for the China’s miracle, reform and opening-up has played a pioneering role, both logically and practically. China's development, driven by market mechanisms, provides a greater guarantee for world peace. On one hand, China's development is a growing force for peace, acting as a deterrent to countries tempted to resort to force.

On the other hand, as global development improves, more and more countries participate in the global division of labor, with increasingly close economic tie, which also helps reduce the possibility of a surge in "non-peaceful options" globally. It can be said that peace is both a safeguard for China's development and the ultimate goal of that development.

On May 1, 2023, large vessels frequently docked at the Qianwan Container Terminal in Qingdao Port, Shandong Province, and the berths were fully occupied, showing a prosperous and busy production scene. (Photo by Han Jiajun)

Promoting Global Governance Through Openness

Alongside the historical process of reform and opening-up, China has introduced a series of major strategic initiatives, injecting new momentum into global development through its own growth. From the proposal of "promoting a new pattern of comprehensive opening-up" in the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to "advancing high-level opening-up" in the report of the 20th National Congress of the CPC , China's approach to openness has become more innovative and far-reaching. A significant value embedded within this is China's active participation in global governance.

For a long period, developed Western countries like the United States, leveraging their strong economic advantages, held a dominant or even controlling position in global governance and rule-making. As the comprehensive strength of various countries undergoes profound changes, this has created the conditions for China and other emerging market countries to jointly promote global governance toward a more just, rational, and effective direction.

Active participation in global governance means that China should not only uphold and defend the existing multilateral trading system, but also contribute to international rule-making and global institutional construction, striving to ensure that global governance mechanisms more equitably reflect the will and interests of the majority of nations.

In practice, China has been moving decisively in this direction, particularly over the past decade, China has successively put forward a series of major initiatives and proposals and offered critical global public goods. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), for instance, has seen China sign cooperation agreements with over 150 countries and 30 international organizations. This has attracted nearly a trillion US dollars in investment, created 420,000 jobs for participating countries, and lifted almost 40 million people out of poverty. Additionally, China has successively proposed the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, offering Chinese solutions to address the changes in the world, the transformations of the times, and the shifts in history.

On December 18, 2022, the Qatar World Cup final took place at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar. This is the largest professional stadium built by Chinese enterprises overseas. Under the coordination of Chinese enterprises, 110 large subcontractors and over 4,600 builders from 15 countries participated in the project. (Photo by Tomita)

In the process of deepening reform and opening-up, China is continuously enriching the connotation and practical path of building a community with a shared future for mankind by providing international public goods, bringing new hope to jointly advance the reform and development of the global governance system. (End)

About the Author:

Zhang Yuyan，Academician of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of CASS, chief expert of the National Global Strategy Think Tank, professor at the School of International Politics and Economics of the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He has long been engaged in the research of institutional economics and international political economics. His major publications include:

Economic Development and Institutional Choice (1992)

International Economic Politics (2008)

The Sources of American Conduct (2015)

The Path of China’s Peaceful Development (2017).

　　版权及免责声明：凡本网所属版权作品，转载时须获得授权并注明来源“欧洲侨报”，违者本网将保留追究其相关法律责任的权力。凡转载文章，不代表本网观点和立场。版权事宜请联系：0040-751021899。