GUANGZHOU: China on Wednesday vowed to unswervingly expand the all-around opening-up of its economy as it held a grand gathering marking the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in this boomtown in southern Guangdong Province.
On August 26, 1980, China’s national legislature approved the establishment of special economic zones in Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou in Guangdong Province and Xiamen in Fujian Province. Over the past four decades, Shenzhen has been transformed from a small fishing village into a modern metropolis with a permanent population of over 13 million.
“The world economy is currently facing complicated challenges. By no means should we be stopped by the reversing trends and tides. We should choose the right side of the history to unswervingly expand opening-up in an all-round way, and promote the building of an open world economy and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind,” Chinese President Xi Jinping told the gathering. At a time when the global economic recovery has been complicated by the COVID-19 pandemic and anti-globalization sentiment, China in May this year brought to the table a new development pattern. Known as “dual circulation,” it takes the domestic market as the mainstay while letting domestic and foreign markets boost each other. “The new development pattern is not a closed domestic circulation, but an open domestic and international dual circulation,” Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed in the speech. He pointed out the need to explore a more flexible policy system and a more scientific management system in domestic and international trade, investment and financing, fiscal and tax affairs, financial innovation and border entry and exit. Shenzhen is a brand-new city created by the CPC and the Chinese people since the country’s reform and opening-up and its development over the past 40 years is a miracle in the world development history, Xi said. From 1980 to 2019, Shenzhen’s GDP rose from 270 million yuan to 2.7 trillion yuan ($40 million to $400 billion), with an average annual growth rate of 20.7 percent, according to Xi.
Its fiscal revenue also increased from less than 100 million yuan to 942.4 billion yuan ($14.9 million to $139.8 billion) during the period. Its total imports and exports climbed from $18 million in 1980 to $431.5 billion in 2019, an average annual growth rate of 26.1 percent, contributing to an all-around opening up, Xi summarized. People’s livelihoods have also greatly improved in Shenzhen, with tremendous advancements in education, medical care, housing and other areas. Its per capita disposable income skyrocketed to 62,500 yuan ($9,272) in 2019, a 31.6-fold growth compared to that of 1985. Xi stressed the valuable experience from the development miracles of the special economic zones (SEZs) including Shenzhen.
Below is some of the advice offered by the president:
— adhere to the concept that development is of paramount importance, insist on the practices of daring to try and daring to be the first, and pursue reform breakthroughs through creative thoughts.
— remain committed to opening-up on all fronts and continuously enhance the attractiveness of “bringing in” and the competitiveness of “going out.”
— take innovation as the primary driving force and win the upper hand in global technological revolution and industrial transformation.
-The Daily Mail-CGTN
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