Beijing, China / TimesNewswire / July 12, 2023 – China is aiming to actively raise its opening up to a new level, according to a meeting of the central commission for deepening overall reform on Tuesday.
Headed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the meeting also called for efforts to promote the gradual transition from dual control over the amount and intensity of energy consumption to dual control over the amount and intensity of carbon emissions.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, noted that cutting carbon emissions has become a strategic focus as the building of ecological civilization has entered a critical period.
Higher level of opening up
Xi highlighted the importance of institutional opening up and deepening institutional reform in investment, trade, finance and innovation, among other key areas of foreign exchanges and cooperation, to raise China’s opening up to a new level.
China has honored its World Trade Organization accession commitments by opening up its market to the rest of the world, making itself a major trading partner of over 140 countries and regions.
Its annual foreign trade value reached a record 42.07 trillion yuan (about $5.85 trillion) in 2022, ranking at the top of the world for six years in a row.
China’s strong domestic economy should be given full play to attract global resources and production factors amid a complex international situation, according to the meeting.
In the past three years, China has achieved an average annual economic growth of 4.5 percent, about 2.5 percent higher than the world average, Chinese Premier Li Qiang pointed out during this year’s Summer Davos Forum.
The meeting urged a tight connection between building a higher-standard open economy and national strategies such as high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.
It also called for efforts to optimize the top-level design of new systems for an open economy, deepen institutional reform in trade and investment sectors, expand market access, and optimize the business environment and the service and support system.
Transition to dual control over carbon emissions
The meeting stressed the need to strengthen the basic capacity, improve the supporting systems and actively create conditions for the establishment and implementation of a dual control system for carbon emissions.
The shift to dual control of carbon emissions highlights the policy orientation of controlling fossil energy consumption, encouraging and promoting the accelerated development of renewable energy and accelerating the transformation of the energy structure, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said during a press conference.
The NEA added that the transition would provide more flexibility for total energy consumption, which benefits the balance between development and carbon emissions.
Tuesday’s meeting also urged dealing with the relationship between development and carbon emissions, and decreasing the proportion of traditional energy in a well-planned manner.
During the meeting, Xi urged accelerating the building of a new power system that is clean and low-carbon, safe and sufficient, cost-effective, and highly efficient to promote the revolution of energy production and consumption, and ensure national energy security.
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