Jiangsu’s Mission to Serve a New Development Pattern and Build a Two-Way Opening Hub of Global Convergence

In the report to the 20th CPC National Congress， General Secretary Xi Jinping made it clear that “China is committed to its fundamental national policy of opening to the outside world and pursues a mutually beneficial strategy of opening up”， and made important arrangements for “promoting high-standard opening up”. At the Central Economic Work Conference 2023， General Secretary Xi stressed that “it is crucial to strengthen the endogenous driving force for development through reform and opening up， ensure the advancement of both profound reforms and high-level opening up in a coordinated way”. This series of important remarks provide a fundamental guideline and guide to action for China to expand high-level opening up in the new era and on the new journey.

As a major economically developed province and a major opening one at that， Jiangsu has received strong support and ardent expectations of General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee. Since the 20th CPC National Congress， General Secretary Xi has made two inspection tours to Jiangsu， twice attended the deliberation of the Jiangsu delegation to the National People’s Congress ， and made a series of important instructions on the work of Jiangsu. During the national “Two Sessions” 2023， General Secretary Xi encouraged Jiangsu to continue to take the lead in high-quality development and emphasized steady expansion of institutional opening up. In July 2023， General Secretary Xi visited Jiangsu and pointed out that Jiangsu has the ability and responsibility to be on the front of advancing Chinese modernization， leading and setting an example， and gave Jiangsu the important task of building a two-way opening hub of global convergence. During the national “Two Sessions” 2024， taking part in the deliberation of the Jiangsu delegation， General Secretary Xi made an important speech on developing new quality productive forces in context of local conditions， calling on the province to deepen comprehensive reform and continue to enhance endogenous drivers and vitality for development， emphasizing on continuous construction of first-class business environment featuring marketization， the rule of law， and internationalization， and shaping a new advantage of opening economy at a higher level. Well digesting the spirit of General Secretary Xi’s important speeches， we have come to a profound understanding that in order to advance a high level of opening to the outside world and build a two-way opening hub of global convergence， it is necessary to stand on strategic and global high ground， accurately grasp theoretical logic and practical logic therein， and fully understand its significance for Jiangsu’s development as well as for the overall situation of the nation as a whole.

Behind building a two-way opening hub of world convergence， lies General Secretary Xi’s profound considerations on building a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress calls for “accelerating the creation of a new development pattern and pursuing high-quality development”， makes high-level opening-up an important part of it with pertinent arrangements， and emphasizes attracting global resources and production factors with our strong domestic economy， and amplify the interplay between domestic and international markets and resources. For Jiangsu， to the east is China’s important gateway of opening， and to the west lies the underpinning of vast hinterland， itself being a junction of the Belt and Road. Building a “two-way opening hub” is a necessary choice for making good use of two markets and resources and smoothing the domestic and international dual circulation. We should gain a deep command of the relationship between domestic circulation as the mainstay and domestic and international dual circulation， both relying on Jiangsu’s advantage in industry and market scale to proactively speed up nurturing a complete domestic demand system， and adhering to improving the ability to allocate resources facing the globe so as to develop an open economy at a higher level， and also bring into play the key role of comprehensively deepening reforms， strive to break chokepoints and bottlenecks that constrain the “dual cycles”， and promote the formation of a development pattern with efficient and smooth going domestic and international markets and resources .

Behind building a two-way opening hub of world convergence， lies General Secretary Xi’s strategic planning to expand opening-up at a higher level under the new circumstances. Since reform and opening up， China has seized the opportunities of economic globalization， continuously expanded opening to the outside world， and made world-renowned achievements. As the world undergoes profound changes unseen in a century， the international environment is becoming increasingly complex， and the trend of anti-globalization is on the rise， impacting the stability of global industrial and supply chains， and hindering global scientific and technological progress and economic development. For all this， as General Secretary Xi makes it crystal clear， “no matter how the world will change， China’s faith in and its commitment to reform and opening-up will not waver.” General Secretary Xi personally plans important arrangements such as promoting the Belt and Road cooperation， advocating the adaptation of global， opening and security visions that get with the times， and making major initiatives to build an open world economy and to construct a community with a shared future for mankind， which are broadly acclaimed in the international community. It is against this background that as Jiangsu builds a two-way opening hub of world convergence， it must anchor the direction of economic globalization， take up the responsibility of leading and setting an example， be on the front in constructing a new system of open economy at a higher level， and create new advantage in international cooperation and competition， adding to the illumination of the nation with the light of a domain， and showing the world that China will not close its door of opening-up， but will only open wider， with firm determination and solid results.

Building a two-way opening hub of world convergence embodies Jiangsu’s important mission in the overall national development strategy. As General Secretary Xi pointed out， Jiangsu is at the forefront of China’s construction of a new development pattern， and has the conditions to play an important pivotal， supporting， exemplary and leading role. This is not only encouragement and stimulation， but also heavy entrustment. Since the new era， Jiangsu’s economic size has crossed seven trillion-class steps， with an increase of 5.8% to RMB 12.82 trillion in 2023， accounting for 10.2% of the national total， 21.9% of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and 42% of the Yangtze River Delta. The foundation of the real economy is strengthened. The added value of the manufacturing sector reached RMB 4.66 trillion， accounting for 14.1% of the national total and 4% of the world total. Both its number of advanced manufacturing clusters and its high-quality development index of manufacturing rank first in China. The advantages of opening up continue to consolidate， with imports and exports increasing by more than 50% over that of 2012， accounting for 1/8 of the national total， and attracting US$ 298.2 billion， accounting for more than 1/6 of the national total. Nearly 80% of the world’s top 500 corporations have invested and started business in Jiangsu. To stabilize the national economic fundamentals and promote high-quality development， Jiangsu is duty-bound and ready to take responsibility. It is necessary to speed up construction of a “two-way opening hub”， more actively integrate into and contribute in the building of a new development pattern， give play to its role as a major economically developed province in radiating to and leading regional and national development， and earnestly shoulder greater responsibility.

With a deeper understanding of the spirit of General Secretary Xi’s important remarks and instructions， and with a comprehensive grasp of Jiangsu’s special position in the opening pattern of the nation as a whole， we feel that building a two-way opening hub of world convergence is a systematic proposition with rich connotations. Above all， world convergence is a key task that demands us to strive to improve converging force of flowing global resource factors， allocation value-adding force， as well as radiating and leading force. “Two-way opening” is direction and path， reflected in east-west joint efforts， domestic and international linkage， input and output balance， and facing the future. “Hub” is the goal which makes it necessary to accelerate the building of a high-level portal hub for opening to the outside world， an important hub of industrial and supply chains， and a strategic hub of domestic and international double cycles. To this end， we launched a special plan based on researches， organized and implemented “8 major actions” for making continued new breakthroughs in building a “two-way opening hub”.

First， taking spatial distributional optimization actions to deepen and expand new spaces for all-round opening up. Into the new era， General Secretary Xi asked Jiangsu to amplify its advantages in opening to the east， do a good job of opening to the west， and expand new spaces for domestic and international opening up. We have kept in mind this entrustment， adhering to the principle of leading Jiangsu’s opening to the outside world with building the junction of the Belt and Road cooperation. While continuing to consolidate our traditional market， we have established a foothold in actively pursuing a layout in the Belt and Road countries and regions， vigorously developing the Silk Road trade， coordinating implementation of major landmark projects and “small but beautiful” livelihood projects， promoting product exports， capacity cooperation， and co-development of industrial park， and filling in the sketched “Belt and Road” outline with fine details of Jiangsu painting. Between 2013 when the Belt and Road Initiative （BRI） was launched and the end of 2023， Jiangsu’s imports and exports with the Belt and Road participating countries and regions grew with an annual rate of 6%， cumulatively totaling more than RMB 17 trillion， reaching RMB 2.25 trillion in 2023， accounting for 42.9% of foreign trade total of the province， with its scale and proportion hitting a new high. Cumulatively， there are more than 2600 investment projects in the Belt and Road participating countries and regions， with an agreed investment totaling US$ 35 billion. There are seven overseas industrial parks with a cumulative investment of US$ 4.2 billion， with 357 resident enterprises， creating 60，000 local jobs. Among them， Hongdou Group， a Jiangsu private enterprise took the lead in developing with other Chinese and Cambodian enterprises the Sihanoukville Port Special Economic Zone （SSEZ） in Cambodia， which has been turned from a desolate and backward place into a modern industrial park with 175 resident enterprises and an annual import and export volume of nearly US$ 3.4 billion. Leaders of both China and Cambodia spoke highly of it. General Secretary Xi affirmed that “The booming SSEZ is a model for China-Cambodia pragmatic cooperation”. This has further strengthened our confidence and determination to integrate into the Belt and Road cooperation.

Second， taking innovative actions to assault fortified positions in developing foreign trade with innovation and continue to enhance comprehensive competitiveness of foreign trade. In recent years， in response to difficulties and challenges such as global economic downturn and continuous contraction of demand， we have prioritized both policy integration and services innovation， resulting in effective stabilization of overall foreign trade performance. In 2023， Jiangsu’s total import and export volume reached RMB 5.25 trillion， ranking second in China. The key to such achievements was the following three focus. First， Structural Optimization. Seizing the opportunity of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership （RCEP） going into force， we came up with a series of high-value supportive policies targeting key foreign markets. In 2023， ASEAN became Jiangsu’s largest trading partner and its largest source of imports， with the imports and exports of its private enterprises reaching a new high， which became the largest exporter of the province. Second， Boosting New Drivers. Based on the advantages of its industrial chain， Jiangsu has vigorously developed the “new trio”， its exports of electric vehicles， lithium-ion batteries， and photovoltaic products rank first in China， especially the photovoltaic manufacturing industry leading the world： outputs of photovoltaic silicon wafers， cells and modules accounting for more than 30% of the world total. At the same time， efforts have been made to foster new forms and models of foreign trade， with cross-border e-commerce exports increasing by 12.3%， and service outsourcing having ranked first in the country for 15 years running. More and more products “Made in Jiangsu” have gone overseas through online trading and digital trade. Third， Market Expansion. A series of campaigns were organized such as “Expanding Market with One Hundred Exhibitions and Ten Thousand Enterprises” and “Jiangsu Brand Name Products Touring the Silk Road”， a large number of Jiangsu companies forming delegations to go global for orders. In 2023， the number of Jiangsu enterprises with import and export performance exceeded 88，000， an increase of over 5，000 more than the previous year. Jiangsu enterprises actively participated in the China International Import Expo with vigorous government support， whose transaction size ranked second among all provincial trading delegations.

Third， taking industrial chain actions to strengthen， mend and extend industrial chains， helping build a modern industrial system. Jiangsu’s actual use of foreign investment has ranked first in China for years running， reaching US$ 25.34 billion last year. Currently， there are 43，000 enterprises with foreign investment， which with a proportion of about 1.3% of all enterprises in the province， constitute 10% of fixed asset investment， 20% of tax revenue and 10% of employment. We have given full play to the advantages of the real economy， actively urged quality foreign investment to be deeply involved in the development of a modern industrial system， and established a more stable and effective interest linkage mechanism. On the one hand， strong links of industrial development are built. Endeavors have been made to build 16 advanced manufacturing clusters and 50 industrial chains， including new energy and biomedicine among others， all hotly contested areas for foreign companies. Focusing on these key areas， we have strengthened guarantee for major foreign investment projects， and encouraged existing foreign companies to increase capital and production. In 2023， Jiangsu won the first place in the country both in the number of key national foreign investment projects and the total number of landmark foreign-funded projects in manufacturing sector. Reinvestment of profits of foreign capital increased by 25.8%， its size continuing to rank first in the country. On the other hand， a network of expanded benefits has been more tightly woven. We have encouraged and guided foreign companies to take advantage of China’s super-large market and shift from only producing in Jiangsu to setting up a layout of all industrial chains there including research and development， design and marketing. To date， there are 395 regional headquarters and functional institutions of multinational corporations in the province. In addition， there are 72 foreign Ramp;D centers that enjoy the state concessional import tax policies， ranking first by number in China.

Fourth， taking platform enhancement actions to strengthen the development of high-end platforms and consolidate vehicles for opening up. In Jiangsu， there are 158 national and provincial development zones， 24 international cooperation parks residing in the province， 26 open ports， and 21 special customs supervision areas， forming a multi-level， wide-coverage and differentiated open platform system. We have focused on giving play to the role of the development parks as main and pilot area， and promoting their transformation to modern industrial parks in the direction of “one special and three improves”， namely creating special innovation clusters and improving land utilization rate， resource recycling rate and smart manufacturing penetration rate. The 158 development zones above provincial level contribute about 50% of the province’s economic aggregate and general public budget revenue， 60% of fixed asset investment， 70% of industrial added value， 80% of actual use of foreign capital and foreign trade value， and converge 34，000 national high-tech enterprises and 885 “little giants” companies （top performing specialized， high-end and innovation-driven SMEs）. In the National Economic Development Zone Comprehensive Assessment 2023， 9 economic development zones in Jiangsu were listed among top 30， ranking first by number in the country， and Suzhou Industrial Park having been the champion for 8 years running. As the first industrial park jointly built by China and a foreign government， Suzhou Industrial Park in its 30 years of history has attracted more than 5000 foreign investment projects， with actual use of foreign capital totaling over US$ 40 billion， incubated a number of strategic emerging industry clusters including biomedicine， artificial intelligence， and nanotechnology， and become an important window for the world to see China as well as Jiangsu. As requested by General Secretary Xi， Suzhou Industrial Park at its “age of establishment” is striving to be a bellwether and pathfinder， and steadily moving towards a world-class high-tech park of opening and innovation.

Fifth， taking institutional-led opening actions for achieving more landmark innovation results. In terms of institutional opening， Jiangsu has taken quite a few national first places： among others， Xuzhou taking the first export order in the country after the RCEP took effect， Wuxi seeing the first whitelist system for bio-pharmaceutical Ramp;D material imports landed for a prefecture-level city， and Nanjing issuing the first online approved business license. According to requirement of “steadily expanding institutional opening up with regard to rules， regulations， management， and standards”， we have combined China’s needs and Jiangsu’s strength with development aspirations， and fanned out “from a point to an area” in giving better play to the province’s role as a test field for reform and opening up. “Focusing on one point” is to do well with the construction of the Jiangsu Pilot Free Trade Zone （Jiangsu FTZ）. Benchmarking high standard international economic and trade rules such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership （CPTPP） and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement （DEPA）， Jiangsu has issued 38 policies in support of high level institutional opening of the Jiangsu FTZ， fulfilling 98% of pertinent national requirement， and cumulatively producing 379 institutional innovation results， 25 of which have been replicated elsewhere in the country. 111，000 operating entities have found their home in the 3 FTZ sub areas of Nanjing， Suzhou and Lianyungang， nearly 3，000 of them belong to opening and innovation-driven convergence of whole biomedical industry chain， and in terms of openness and competitiveness， Jiangsu FTZ is on the front of the national pilot free trade zones of the same batch. “Spreading over in area” is to create a first-class business environment. Jiangsu has focused on creating a better comprehensive policy environment， a fair and orderly market environment， an efficient and convenient administrative environment， an equitable and transparent rule of law environment， and a pro-business cultural environment， known as the “five environments”. Jiangsu has come up with a package of action plans and innovation measures， to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of operating entities， and strive to build the world’s most attractive investment destination. Jiangsu has been awarded the honor of “Praised by Ten thousand Private Enterprises as the Province for Best Business Environment” for five years running. And Suzhou has won the honor of “Amazing China -- The Most Attractive Chinese Cities in the Eyes of Foreign Talents” for 12 consecutive years.

Sixth， taking channel opening actions， sparing no effort in clearing the “aorta” of domestic and international connectivity. Jiangsu stands by sea and spans rivers， embraces lakes and creeks， links up north and south， and connects east and west. With a view to amplifying its advantage in opening， We have implemented the plan to expand the comprehensive international transport system， to increase connectivity along the coast， the Yangtze River， and the new Eurasian land-sea combined transport channel. In regard to sea passage， Jiangsu has consolidated and expanded the sea entry to the new Eurasian land-sea combined transport channel based on the Lianyungang port， and accelerated the construction of the Tongzhou Bay New Estuary， having built 10 ports with a handling capacity of and above one hundred million tons， 7 of them with a handling capacity of 200 million tons， accounting for nearly 30% of the national total. Its international container shipping routes basically cover all major global trading nations， and on the average， over 100 ships with Jiangsu products depart for destinations all over the world everyday. In regard to land passage， Jiangsu has accelerated the development of new forms of business， such as China-Eurasia Railway Express+ trade， and + ports， with constantly improved layout and function of warehouses overseas. China-Europe （Central Asia） freight trains are stabilized on the operation of 24 routes， covering 26 countries and 80 cities. In 2023， 2，123 trains were on the move， an increase of 7.6%. The 1st China-Europe Express International Cooperation Forum was successfully held in Lianyungang， to which General Secretary Xi sent a congratulatory massage. The China-Kazakhstan （Lianyungang） Logistics Cooperation Base， as the first economic and trade cooperation entity project that came to be after the BRI was launched， has cumulatively handled 1.956 million TEU， more than 80% of Kazakhstan’s imports of consumer goods and exports of mining products being handled there. General Secretary Xi spoke highly of the base where “products from Kazakhstan set sail for the Pacific Ocean”. In regard to air passage， all of the 9 transport airports in the province have been opened as first-class ports， and 35 international passenger routes and 11 international cargo routes have been resumed and gone into service， with more than 40 all cargo navigable points. We are speeding up efforts to strengthen the weak links in air transport， further enhance the capacity of international freight logistics， and continue to expand new spaces for three-dimensional opening up.

Seventh， taking actions to build a digital opening hub， fostering and unleashing new drivers of an open economy. As General Secretary Xi pointed out， digital economy “is becoming a vital force in reorganizing global factor resources， reshaping the global economic structure， and changing the landscape of global competition”. Jiangsu leads the country both in the size of digital economy and in the level of industrial digitalization， with added value of core industries of digital economy accounting for more than 11% of GDP. We will continue to take digital economy for critical increment in the transformational development， and coordinate efforts to build a province with strong integrated digital and real economy and a strong open province， thus adding digital wings for the open economy. Jiangsu has taken the initiative in developing digital infrastructure. Its construction of 5G and computility has been appropriately advanced. Its development parks are undergoing digital transformation. The total number of its 5G base stations reached 243，000， ranking second in the country， and 35 provincial smart parks have been built. Jiangsu has deepened digital transformation of ports， with overall customs clearance time for imports and that for exports reduced by more than 60% and 80% respectively in comparison to 2017， and the maritime ports of Taicang and Lianyungang having been approved to build the first batch of pilot smart ports in the country. Jiangsu has got a head start with smart change， digital transformation and network connection， leading the country in carrying out transformation in manufacturing industry， cumulatively implementing over 50，000 transformation projects， having built 12 global “lighthouse factories”， 32 national smart manufacturing demonstration factories， and 97 5G smart factories， and its level of integrated development of information technology and industrialization having ranked first in the country for 9 years running. A large number of foreign trade and foreign investment enterprises have been deeply involved in intelligent manufacturing in Jiangsu through building new intelligent production lines， advancing machine replacement of people， and data cloud， with core competitiveness of pertinent enterprises improved significantly. Jiangsu is building a fast track for orderly data flow across borders. In positive response to the demand of enterprises for efficient and secure cross-border data， service enterprises have opened 437 special cross-border data lines， focusing on enhancing international access to data. Jiangsu has explored the establishment of mechanisms for safety assessment and contract filing， and strengthened whole-process services and guidance. Fifteen enterprises have passed the national data exit safety assessment， and 91 enterprises have completed filing of standard exit personal information contracts. Jiangsu has become one of the first five pilot provinces to carry out pre-assessment of data exit safety.

Eighth， taking actions to deepen international exchanges and cooperation， creating Jiangsu brand name of external relation. To improve the level of Jiangsu’s opening to the outside world， it does not just depend on its economic weight in national opening pattern， but also its ability to tell China stories happening in Jiangsu through international exchanges. We successfully hosted the 5th China-US Sister Cities Conference which was the largest sub-national exchange event between the two countries after the COVID-19 outbreak， to which General Secretary Xi sent a message to inject strong impetus into continuing the friendship between the sister cities and provinces. Jiangsu has also successfully held other international events like the 2023 World Coastal Forum and the 2023 China-Pacific Island Countries Agriculture and Fishery Ministers Meeting. To promote high-level sub-national exchanges， principal leaders of the CPC provincial Committee and the provincial people’s government respectively led delegations to visit Singapore， Germany and other countries and regions， carrying out counterpart exchanges， and further consolidating the consensus of “looking up to China” and “looking up to Jiangsu” against the trend of anti-globalization. We have continued to strengthen working relations， deepen cooperation with sister cities and provinces in economy， trade， science， technology， and education， bringing the promotion projects of “Charm of Jiangsu” and “Healthy Jiangsu” into our sister cities and provinces. As old friends become closer by visiting each other， and more new friends are made through exchanges， Jiangsu has so far established 363 pairs of international sister cities and provinces in 67 countries， ranking first by number in the country. Since 2012， it has attracted 379，000 international students to study in the province. Through pragmatic sub-national exchanges， Jiangsu has effectively served China’s overall diplomacy.

In retrospect， Jiangsu has embraced the world with open arms， and the world has met a confident Jiangsu. Facing the future， it will continue to pave its way of development with opening-up policies， take the initiative， and accelerate the construction of a two-way opening hub of world convergence. We shall continue to follow the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era， earnestly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi’s important remarks while taking part in the deliberation of the Jiangsu delegation at the 2nd Session of the 14th National People’s Congress， and firmly prioritize the primary task of high-quality development， develop new-quality productive forces fitting the local conditions， enhance innovation， and accelerate the building of internationally competitive strategic emerging industrial clusters in order to make Jiangsu an important arena for developing new quality productive forces. With solid results in serving the building of a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development， Jiangsu will， with sincerity and enthusiasm， explain China’s visions， disseminate China’s values， and present China’s image to the world， and help build an open world economy， and a community with a shared future for mankind. It will strive to draw a magnificent picture of win-win cooperation， and one of mutually sharing and appreciating what is different but beautiful.

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Xin Changxing is Secretary of CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and Director of Standing Committee of Jiangsu Provincial People’s Congress