opening to the outside world is the basic state policy of china, and china's development benefits from opening to the outside world. since the third plenary session of the eleventh central committee of the communist party of china (cpc) central committee, from the establishment of special economic zones to the all-round opening up, from the coastal areas to the inland areas, china has gradually opened up its market to the outside world. in his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the first china international import expo, president xi jinping pointed out that china's commitment to opening its door to the outside world has achieved a great historical transition from a closed and semi-closed society to an all-around opening-up, which has become a clear symbol of contemporary china.
the 40 years of reform and opening-up have fully demonstrated that opening up to the outside world and raising the level of opening up to promote reform and development through opening up is an important magic weapon for china to make new achievements in development and the only way for china to achieve prosperity and development. after 40 years of opening up and development, china has become the world's second largest economy, the largest industrial country, the largest trading nation in goods and the largest foreign exchange reserve country. over the past 40 years, china's foreign trade has grown at an average annual rate of 14.5 percent. china's opening up has not only developed itself, but also benefited the world. it has contributed more than 30 percent to world economic growth for many years in a row and has become a major stabilizer and power source of world economic growth. in the next 15 years, china is expected to import us $30 trillion of goods and provide vast market opportunities, investment opportunities and development opportunities for countries around the world.
after 40 years of reform and opening up, china has never stopped its opening up. since the eighteenth congress, the party central committee with comrade xi for the core as a whole the domestic and international two overall situation, adapt to china and the world depth fusion, the trend of common fate, the "open" into the new development concept, to "china's open door never closes", emphasis on "china's opening to the outside world will not stagnation", opened a new round of high levels of opening to the outside world. a series of measures to open up the market have been put into practice, and new breakthroughs have been made in opening up, new steps have been taken, and a new pattern has been formed.
the scope and scale of foreign capital utilization continued to expand, and the business environment continued to improve. over the past 40 years since reform and opening up, china has placed the active introduction of foreign capital in an important strategic position, constantly improving the level of opening-up, facilitating investment, improving the investment environment, and improving the quality and efficiency of foreign capital utilization and expanding its scale. in 2017, china actually used 136.3 billion us dollars of foreign capital, becoming the second largest foreign capital inflow country in the world. we will accelerate the development of laws and regulations, strengthen protection of intellectual property rights, reduce market operating costs, and improve operational efficiency. we will comprehensively improve the quality and level of opening up and create a new pattern of opening up. we will take greater and more forceful measures in the field of opening-up to substantially relax market access, significantly improve the competitiveness of the financial sector, ensure sustained and sound development of the capital market, accelerate the development of a modern industrial system, improve the level of open economy, and move toward a higher level of opening-up. focusing on the development of one belt and one road, we should attach equal importance to "bringing in" and "going out", strengthen open cooperation in innovation, and form an open pattern of land, sea, internal and external linkage and east - west two-way economy.
we will pursue a win-win strategy of opening-up and promote the building of an open world economy. in the face of the instability and uncertainty of world economic growth, we should adhere to the path of openness, integration and win-win cooperation, firmly uphold the wto rules, oppose unilateralism and protectionism, support the multilateral trading system, promote free trade zones and build an open world economy. we should take the initiative to win economic development and international competition through opening-up and form a mutually beneficial cooperation pattern with other countries in the course of expanding opening-up.
the world today is undergoing a new round of major development, major changes and major adjustments, and countries are increasingly interconnected in economic and social development. at the same time, the world economy is undergoing profound adjustment, protectionism and unilateralism are on the rise, and uncertainties and uncertainties remain. in this day and age, no nation can meet the challenges of mankind alone, nor can it retreat to its own isolated islands. history has proved time and again that closure eventually leads to a dead end, and only through openness and cooperation can the path be widened. economic globalization is already an irreversible historical trend, which cannot be transferred by human will.
a man will prosper, a man will prosper. to revitalize a country or a nation, we must advance in the logic of historical progress and in the trend of the times. opening-up meets the historical demand of the chinese people for development, innovation and a better life, and meets the trend of the times for the people of all countries to develop, cooperate and live in peace. only by unswervingly pursuing comprehensive opening-up can we draw on the continuous momentum of development and bring china's development better to the people of the world.
source: study times