The momentum of high-level opening-up is surging - a survey from Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Hainan
High level opening up to the outside world is a strategic choice to cope with external environmental uncertainty and enhance national security capabilities. From continuously improving the level of customs clearance facilitation, to making new progress in stabilizing foreign investment and trade, and then accelerating the pace of "going global" for enterprises, various regions are promoting the construction of a new development pattern through high-level opening up to the outside world, enhancing the endogenous driving force and reliability of the domestic circulation, improving the quality and level of the international circulation, and winning the initiative of economic development and international competition through the initiative of opening up to the outside world.
Adhering to openness, cooperation and mutual benefit is an inevitable requirement of Chinese path to modernization. Recently, Economic Daily reporters followed the "Vitality China Research Tour" interview team to conduct in-depth research in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Hainan and other places. Walking through buildings, factories and workshops, they were greeted with a vibrant atmosphere of openness and inclusiveness. The transcripts of foreign trade and investment showcase the new trend of high-quality development of the Chinese economy to the world. China, full of vitality, injects a continuous stream of energy into the world economy, takes the initiative to expand opening up and embrace change, and radiates new vitality and vigor.
Speed up customs clearance
By the mouth of the Yangtze River, the sea and sky merge into one color. Entering the Haitong Port in Waigaoqiao Port Area, Shanghai, a car roll on/roll off ship over 200 meters long slowly docks. Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port Area is the port with the largest number of imported and exported automobiles in Shanghai. The Waigang Haitong Terminal located in this port area is currently the largest single vehicle roll on/roll off terminal in the country. In 2024, Shanghai Port completed a vehicle throughput of 3.63 million, ranking first in the world.
Here, car clearance is more convenient. Chen Jia, the head of the Ninth Inspection Department of the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port Area Customs, introduced that Shanghai Customs actively plays the role of a "customs enterprise liaison officer". Through an online business coordination mechanism, it obtains the export roll on/roll off ship berthing plan in advance, collaborates with Haitong Port to seamlessly connect the entire customs clearance logistics process from vehicle entry, stacking, inspection, relocation to release, and establishes a car clearance appointment and emergency response mechanism. It continuously optimizes the customs clearance supervision process and links to ensure the safety, smoothness, and efficiency of car exports.
At present, the Outer Harbor Haitong Terminal has 15 international car roll on/roll off routes, connecting 289 ports in 131 countries and regions, forming a maritime network leading to the world. At the same time, the Outer Harbor Haitong Terminal leverages its geographical advantages and strives to build the terminal into a strategic hub connecting domestic and international dual circulation. Adopting the "water water intermodal transportation mode", the ports along the Yangtze River are connected to Shanghai Waigaoqiao Port, further consolidating the hub position of Shanghai as an international shipping center. In the first eight months of this year, the foreign port customs guaranteed the export of 339000 vehicles through the "water water intermodal transportation" method.
To the northwest of Waigaoqiao Port Area, Taicang Port in Jiangsu Province boasts 38.8 kilometers of coastline resources and deep-water channels, giving it a unique location advantage at the end of the river and the head of the sea. Liu Erqi, the general manager of Haitong (Taicang) Auto Terminal Co., Ltd., said, "Taicang Port is actively integrating into the construction of world-class port groups in the Yangtze River Delta based on resources and capital as a link, and building an important northern wing of Shanghai's international shipping center." The port actively participated in the construction of the "the Belt and Road", focused on the development idea of "linkage between land and overseas, and two-way mutual aid between east and west", continued to increase efforts to open new routes, and constantly improved the service level of rail sea intermodal transport. The transportation mode is also constantly innovating. By adopting the "foldable commodity vehicle dedicated framework" transportation mode and relying on the Shugang railway dedicated line to achieve intermodal transportation of iron and water, Taicang Port has built a three-dimensional transportation network of "river sea linkage, public iron and water interconnection", creating a stable, reliable and more cost competitive overseas channel for automobile enterprises.
The entry and exit border inspection station of Hainan Sanya Phoenix International Airport is located at the southernmost airport in China, responsible for tasks such as entry and exit inspections and the first batch of immigration management port visa pilot work. Here, incoming passengers' luggage only needs to pass through the plane once to complete double inspection simultaneously, achieving "seamless clearance". In order to comply with the regulatory requirements of "opening up the front line and controlling the second line" for customs clearance operations, Haikou Customs implements supervision in a scientific and efficient manner in accordance with the law. While ensuring the biological safety, public health safety, and trade security of the country's borders, it provides maximum customs clearance convenience for inbound and outbound passengers, and creates an international customs with global competitiveness.
Attracting investment and improving quality
On the banks of the Huangpu River, a gentle breeze blows gently. As a key hub for global financial institutions and professional service providers in China, Lujiazui Financial City has attracted a large amount of foreign investment. With a complete market system, open innovation environment, convenient business environment, and professional government services, it provides a broad platform for global enterprises to invest abroad, layout their business, and integrate resources. Zhou Haidong, Deputy Director of the Lujiazui Management Bureau, introduced that Lujiazui has gathered 70% of foreign-funded asset management institutions, 40% of foreign-funded corporate banks, 40% of foreign-funded securities firms, 55% of foreign-funded sole proprietorship public funds, over 95% of foreign-funded banking institutions, and 80% of foreign-funded insurance headquarters in Shanghai.
The Lujiazui Financial City attracts a large influx of foreign businesses, which is a true reflection of Shanghai's strong attraction. Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the actual use of foreign investment in Shanghai has exceeded 98 billion US dollars, with an average of over 5700 newly established foreign-funded enterprises per year. The proportion of foreign investment in China has increased from 14% in 2020 to 15.2% in 2024, and it has always been one of the preferred investment destinations for foreign investors.
'Resolutely choosing China' has become a consensus among many foreign companies. In the first half of this year, the company's Greater China business achieved double-digit growth, and we will continue to increase our investment in China in the future, "said Suo Ailun, Director of Innovation Business Management for Dassault Systemes Greater China. Fei Leidu, the general manager of Yipeisheng Medical Equipment Manufacturing (Changzhou) Co., Ltd., also has a similar view: "Investing in China and building a base in Changzhou is the right thing to do!" In October 2022, after considering a series of factors such as location, cost, industrial support, and business environment, Yipeisheng decided to settle in Changzhou High tech Zone, Jiangsu Province and establish its first production base in the Asia Pacific region. Fei Lei Du said that the government departments in Changzhou have high efficiency in handling affairs, can listen and understand the needs of foreign enterprises well, and actively help enterprises solve problems.
Bosch Home Appliances, a global home appliance company that entered the Chinese market in 1994, has been continuously investing and expanding its production in China for over 30 years. In 2004, Boxihua Electric (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. and Boxijia Electric Park were established in Nanjing. In 2011, Bosch Home Appliances established a China R&D center in Nanjing Economic Development Zone; Last year, the center was upgraded to a global R&D center, becoming the largest comprehensive R&D center in the world for Bosch Home Appliances, with over 700 engineers.
In addition to foreign-funded enterprises, overseas universities also highly recognize China. The establishment of Hainan Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, the first independent overseas university program, is a new exploration in the field of education in China. When asked why he chose to root in Hainan, Guo Shangwen, the vice president of the school, answered that Hainan Free Trade Port has sufficient policy support for educational innovation, high convenience for foreign teachers to come to China, and more importantly, it will gather a group of enterprises in logistics engineering, digital economy and other fields, which can accurately adapt to the school's "practice embedded" school enterprise collaborative education model, and truly implement and effect international talent cultivation.
Go out to sea to raise gas
In 2024, the total import and export volume of goods at Shanghai Port reached 11.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 26.5% compared to 2020. The total import and export volume of Shanghai has maintained positive growth for 9 consecutive years. Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the cumulative import and export volume of goods trade has reached 2.81 trillion US dollars, with an average annual compound growth rate of over 4%, exceeding the predetermined target.
Faced with the complex external environment, new models and business forms of foreign trade are bursting with strong vitality, and enterprises are increasingly determined to "go global". Shanghai has taken the lead in implementing all four modes of cross-border e-commerce import and export nationwide, accelerating the pilot program for convenient transportation of goods for cross-border e-commerce enterprises. Since the 14th Five Year Plan, the average annual growth rate of cross-border e-commerce has exceeded 35%; In 2024, there will be 636 pilot enterprises for offshore economic and trade business under the free trade account, with an offshore trade revenue and expenditure scale of 80 billion US dollars, doubling from 2020.
In Shengze Town, Wujiang District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, Wu Changming, General Manager of Wujiang Minsk Trading Co., Ltd., introduced: "In the first seven months of this year, the company's export volume increased by more than 190% year-on-year, with cross-border e-commerce exports exceeding 38 million US dollars." He told reporters that the explosive growth of the company's cross-border e-commerce since the beginning of this year is inseparable from a series of measures launched by local government departments, such as simplifying cross-border e-commerce declaration and improving customs clearance efficiency.
Lu Ziping, Director of the Oriental Silk Market Management Office in Shengze Town, stated that in order to assist enterprises in expanding overseas markets, Shengze continues to promote the integrated development of "textile foreign trade+cross-border e-commerce". In May 2024, the Silk Road Nanhua Cross border E-commerce Industrial Park in Wujiang High tech Zone (Shengze Town) was officially put into use. Relying on the advantages of the local silk and textile industry belt, the industrial park has built a building style cross-border e-commerce cluster. Over the past year, it has attracted platforms such as Alibaba International Station Shengze Service Office, service agencies such as Yadong Freight Forwarders, and 86 foreign trade enterprises to settle in, including 37 cross-border e-commerce enterprises. In the first half of 2025, the industrial park will achieve a cross-border e-commerce import and export volume of nearly 790 million yuan.
In the exhibition hall of Yadi Technology Group in Xishan District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, a variety of electric bicycle products with different styles and performance are dazzling. Wang Jiazhong, Senior Vice President of Yadi Technology Group Co., Ltd., told reporters that in recent years, the company has increased its efforts in building overseas R&D teams and carried out differentiated R&D to meet the different needs of various markets in different countries. Europeans are tall and have high demands for speed, making them suitable for high-performance and fast charging straddle type electric vehicles; Southeast Asian countries have many commuting and family travel scenarios in cities, and tend to favor low-speed, extended seat pedal electric vehicles. At present, Yadea Technology Group has overseas production and research bases in Vietnam, Thailand, Mexico and other countries, and its products are sold to more than 100 countries and regions.
In addition to Yadi, there are also six leading enterprises in the local area, including Tailing, Xinri, Xiaodao, and Aima, earning Xishan District the reputation of "the hometown of electric vehicles in China". Enterprises are accelerating their pace of "going global", reflecting the profound industrial accumulation in the local area and the strong trend of Chinese brands "going global". By 2025, Xishan District will have 167 large-scale industrial enterprises included in the electric vehicle industry cluster; In the first half of the year, the cluster achieved a revenue of 36.608 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.8%, and an import and export volume of 350 million US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 31.9%.
In Haikou Fuxing City Internet Information Industrial Park, digital trade has a strong momentum of development. In China, on average, one small and medium-sized enterprise applies for a Dun&Bradstreet code (a globally recognized unique identification code) every 10 minutes. Since landing in Hainan, we have issued Dun&Bradstreet codes to over 150000 enterprises, "said Wu Guangyu, President of Dun&Bradstreet China. As a leading global business data and analysis decision-making empowerment company, Dun&Bradstreet registered and established Hainan Dun&Bradstreet Data Technology Co., Ltd. in Haikou in 2022. The company is based in the Hainan Free Trade Port and relies on the advantages of secure and orderly data flow to serve more Chinese enterprises to explore the global market and overseas enterprises to develop the Chinese market. In 2024, the digital trade volume of Hainan Province reached 28.79 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 44.5%. In the first seven months of this year, the digital trade volume reached 13.53 billion yuan; Among them, the export of computer services increased by 1.3 times.
Enterprises cannot go global without the high-quality supporting services provided by relevant government departments. The Shanghai Hongqiao Overseas Development Service Center continues to deepen its "going global" service function, providing support and consulting services covering multiple aspects such as overseas risk prevention, investment and mergers and acquisitions, legal compliance, etc. for enterprises to "go global". Since the beginning of this year, the center has held a total of 122 "going global" activities, attracting about 3500 companies to participate, conducting 267 batches of various visits, receptions, and cooperative exchanges, and receiving more than 3900 visitors. Wang Xin, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Management Committee, stated that in the future, the center will continue to optimize service mechanisms, integrate professional resources, and provide full chain support from policy guidance to resource docking for more enterprises.