Nation's role

For the coming five years, China's deeper integration into global society is very important for the world's peace and development, with the priority of achieving healthier and sustainable domestic growth, according to Zhu. "Sober observation" is needed at the moment to understand the global development trend. 

A general consensus among the policymakers is that peaceful development is still the theme, with China facing both challenges and opportunities from the external environment, he said.

During this process, there is no doubt that China will closely integrate with the world, along with dealing with the challenges of the complex external environment, including Sino-US relations and relations with other developed countries. China will also unite more closely with developing countries, to make contributions to world peace, Zhu told China Daily.

Bai Ming, deputy director of the Ministry of Commerce's International Market Research Institute, said that in 2020 the government had taken a well-calibrated approach in terms of aiding small and private businesses and the domestic market soon regained its vitality. This achievement not only benefited China's own growth, but also notably helped to stabilize international production and supply chains when the virus later rampaged globally. He said that China's timely and effective resumption of work and production had in turn played an irreplaceable role in global production and transportation when the pandemic took hold globally.

He added that China had made tremendous efforts on promoting globalization and opening-up last year, including signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement, completing negotiations on the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, releasing a master plan for the Hainan Free Trade Port and shortening the negative list for the Access of Foreign Investment.