The Economics of China’s Opening Up: Developing an Economic Theory That Explains China’s Achievement

Abstract

Research on the construction of a theory for China’s open economy should break through the limitations of mainstream Western international economics. Firstly, we need to reveal the laws revolving around “three relationships and six threads” that governed China’s incremental process of trade liberalization. Secondly, we need to summarize China’s experience of the way new technologies, including the Internet, digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) have fostered and reshaped the position of small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) as micro-actors, providing us with new advantages in international competition. Thirdly, we need to analyze the new win-win mode of the international division of labor over land and sea established under the guidelines of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as a new concept of pluralist balance in the international economy marked by a close connection between trade surplus and foreign investment. Fourthly, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s important discourses, we should offer a rationale for the Chinese scheme of global economy governance within the community of shared future for mankind.