World will benefit as China opens wider

The visit by Xi Jinping to Guangdong province in December 2012, immediately after he was elected general secretary of the18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, signaled the new leadership’s resolve to carry on reform and opening-up. Standing in front of Deng Xiaoping’s statue in Shenzhen, one of the country’s first special economic zones whose trailblazing efforts were supported by Deng, he said the country must have the courage to continue on this path. This week, President Xi inspected Guangdong again, saying that its development over the past four decades proved that reform and opening-up are the way forward, and the country will unswervingly and unremittingly deepen reform and expand opening-up following the blueprint the Party has charted.

If Deng’s endorsement of reform and opening-up unveiled China to the world, Xi’s wholehearted endorsement of it as the right path for the country is of both national and international significance.

As protectionism and isolationism have reared their ugly heads, Xi’s pledge that the world’s second-largest economy will deliver a bigger miracle by being more open, innovative and cooperative, should give a big boost to confidence in the future of economic globalization.

Under Xi’s leadership, China has demonstrated its potential — it has not only maintained a robust and stable growth at home while upgrading its economy and improving its governance and environment, but also supplied public goods and wisdom to the world through win-win cooperation based on mutual respect and equality.

By displaying reason, restraint and foresight when dealing with thorny issues, the country has earned credit and trust to act as a reformative power to make global governance fairer and more just.

His call for reform and opening-up to be carried out at a higher level and with higher goals has made clear the Party’s determination to make breakthroughs in the deep waters of reform. This should dispel concerns about the prospects of the Chinese economy that were evident in debates on the role of private enterprises and the belated, if not long overdue, financial reform.

The country now has a solid foundation and greater space for maneuver; and it is time to finally say goodbye to the quantity-oriented model of development and usher in quality, sustainable and inclusive growth.

The objective of reform and opening-up is no longer to revitalize the economy and society as it was 40 years ago, but national rejuvenation and building China into a modern socialist power.

Over the past 40 years, reform and opening-up have transformed China and benefited the world, Xi’s tour of Guangdong made clear that China will not stray from this path.