Create new and greater China miracles with the spirit of reform

Note: The following is an edited translation of a commentary from the Chinese-language "Commentaries on International Affairs."

Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s economic output has jumped up more than a dozen places in the world rankings to second place. The country is now the world’s largest manufacturer. And 700 million people have escaped poverty. These developments have been called the “China miracle” by many Western scholars. Can China achieve a new miracle in the face of a complex international environment and a domestic economic transformation? President Xi Jinping's recent visit to Guangdong has given people a firm answer. China's reforms will not stop, and the opening up will not come to a halt. China is aiming for new and bigger miracles to make the world marvel at.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, visits an exhibition on Guangdong's development during the past 40 years since the reform and opening up at a museum in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, during an inspection tour, Oct. 24, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Shenzhen has long been a testbed for reform and opening up. The Economist magazine once marveled at the "Miracle of Shenzhen", calling it the greatest success story out of the more than 4,000 special economic zones around the world. Shenzhen has evolved over the past 40 years from a small fishing village to a first-tier city and international metropolis. 

Shenzhen had the courage to break through the constraints of the nation’s economic system, made full use of the advantages of its proximity to Hong Kong, and actively sought out foreign investment. It has been an innovation pioneer, and its efforts have paid off. The city's GDP increased from 197 million yuan in 1979 to 2.24 trillion yuan in 2017, with an average annual growth rate of 23 percent. It is the birthplace of heavyweight companies such as Huawei, China Merchants Bank, and Tencent. It is home to more than 200 of the Fortune Global 500 companies. And for many years the city has ranked first on the Forbes list of Chinese mainland cities with the greatest capacity for innovation. 

In December 2012, Xi Jinping included Shenzhen on his first tour around the country after the 18th National Congress made him the leader of the Communist Party of China. And Shenzhen was again an important stop during his latest trip to Guangdong Province. During this trip, President Xi looked back at the development of Guangdong's reform and opening up, and encouraged the people in the province to stay true to their mission of continually improving the development and implementation of the reform and opening up policy. 

A few days ago, data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics showed that the country’s economic growth had slowed to 6.5 percent in the third quarter of this year. Against the background of weak global economic growth, the rollback of globalization, and the trade friction between China and the United States, the international community is concerned whether China’s economy can continue to thrive, and whether China’s leadership still has the stamina for reform and opening up. But there will be no turning back on the policies that have made China the economic powerhouse that it is today. 

Take Shenzhen as an example. According to official data, in the first eight months of this year, 9,724 foreign-invested enterprises were established, an increase of 186 percent over the same period last year. Despite jitters from some parts of the Western press that there was a tide of foreign capital divestment, the technological innovation, diverse industrial chain supply, and deep pool of talent in places like Shenzhen continue to make China an attractive target for investment. And the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the building of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will contiue to make the city a preferred destination for foreign capital.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, meets with social workers and residents of Beizhan Community in Longhua District in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, during an inspection tour, Oct. 24, 2018. [Photo: Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Shenzhen is a microcosm of China’s shift towards high-quality development. According to a United Nations report, in the first half of 2018, China was the world's largest recipient of foreign direct investment, and investment grew by 6 percent year-on-year, surpassing last year's champion the United States. And data from China's Ministry of Commerce showed that the use of foreign capital in China in the first three-quarters of this year increased by 6.4 percent on last year, the fastest growth rate recorded since 2015.

As a Song Dynasty poem goes, when spring warms the flow of a river, the ducks are the first to know. Guangdong is not only the forerunner of China's reform and opening up; it also offers early signs of the changes in China’s economy. This is why careful observers are looking at the key ideas raised by President Xi during his recent tour of the province. These include using the people’s happiness as a test of the effectiveness of reform, raising the standards for economic and social development, increasing the role of enterprises in innovation, strengthening the market orientation of enterprises, developing artificial intelligence technology, and paying more attention to the coordinated development of urban and rural areas. 

Over the past 40 years, China's road to development through reform and opening up has at times been bumpy. But it has also been undeniably the right path. During that time, China contributed more than 30 percent of the world’s economic growth and more than 70 percent of the global reduction in poverty. China was a stabilizer that helped the world economy recover after the last global financial crisis. And it has become an important player in global governance. As it continues to deepen its reforms and expand its opening up, an increasingly prosperous and open China will benefit not only the Chinese people, but also people in countries around the world.