China Opening

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Will China's New Opening up and Reform Policies “Exceed the Expectations of the International Community”?

American and European businesses and academics should work with China, and encourage and help China in further reform and opening up. FDI inflows into China hit an all-time high at $130.1 billion in 2017, ranking 2nd in the world only after those in the US, a fact that explains the fundamentals of China’s open door policy. FDI from the US was $3.13 billion, down 18.2% from the previous year; and that from the EU 28 was $8.79 billion, down...

He Weiwen

Senior Fellow, Center for China and Globalization, CCG
Four decades of reform and opening up has brought earth-shaking changes to China, lifting the country from a state of stark poverty to that of initial prosperity. In 1978, China’s economy was valued at only ¥367.8 billion, ranking 10th worldwide; by 2017, it had grown to ¥82.71 trillion, having taken Japan’s place as the world's second largest economy in 2010. The proportion of the Chinese economy in the global total has also risen fro...

Zhou Shijian

Senior Fellow, Tsinghua Center for US-China Relations
While China is commemorating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up this year, the Chinese leadership is ready to take measures to make China’s economy more open, as Mr. Liu He said in World Economic Forum in Davos. But many China observers don’t believe this. The diametrically opposing views of Chinese leaders and foreign observers are not surprising, and this has been the case in the past.

Ding Yifan

China Forum Expert and Deputy Director of China Development Research Center
Currently, China’s economy appears to be doing well regarding key indicators, but the longer-term risks may not be what many believe. The key question is how China will resolve the contradiction highlighted in official statements that the market should play the “decisive” role in allocating resources while the state should play the “leading” role in the economy.

Yukon Huang

Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment
Forty years into a reform and opening process that helped unleash the power and potential of the Chinese people and that is most associated with Deng Xiaoping, the recent actions of the National People's Congress to abolish presidential term limits and adopt a "revolutionary" (in the words of Liu He, Xi’s key economic advisor and Politburo member) government restructuring plan suggests that China under Xi Jinping will be more about "co...

Curtis S. Chin

Former U.S. Ambassador to Asian Development Bank
It will be difficult to change long-held opinions on the openness of Chinese markets. Naturally, different segments of the international community will vary in their views. Countries in Southeast Asia, for example, could see benefits from Chinese initiatives to accelerate the building of regional free trade areas. Financial services firms in the West also stand to benefit from removing caps on foreign stakes in banks, securities brokerage h...

Christopher A. McNally

Professor of Political Economy, Chaminade University