Openness index

"China's sustained economic development and the expansion of its middle-income group, coupled with Chinese people's growing demand for healthy food products, have underpinned the growth of our business," said Michael Jiang, president of Zespri Greater China.

Liao Fan, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics, said that as certain economies turn inward, embracing protectionist policies and erecting trade barriers, a market that seamlessly combines immense scale with genuine openness is transitioning from a common feature to a rare and critical resource.

The World Openness Index registered a marginal decline of 0.05 percent in 2024 compared with the previous year, recording a drop of 0.34 percent from 2019 and a decline of 5.39 percent from 2008, indicating that global openness remains in the contraction phase.

The index is included in the World Openness Report 2025, compiled by the CASS institute and the Research Center for the Hongqiao International Economic Forum.

China's openness index surged from 0.59 to 0.76 between 1990 and 2024, marking a rise of nearly 30 percent, according to the report released in November.

"The high-level opening-up has been crucial in unlocking new growth avenues. The market's sheer scale and diversity — from top-tier cities to lower-tier cities that are also growing in wealth — present vast, untapped potential," said Hubert de Haan, senior vice-president of BSH Home Appliances Group Region Greater China.

"Chinese consumers are eager to try new things and have high demand for innovation, and the capabilities we gain in China ensure that we can be successful in the rest of the world," he said, adding that this model, in which innovations born within China's robust ecosystem serve global demand, shows how China's opening-up contributes to global supply chain stability.

In the latest step to further open up the world's second-largest consumer market, China launched island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port in mid-December.

This makes Hainan a key bridge for China to connect with the global market. The island has expanded the coverage of its zero-tariff policy to 74 percent of imported goods, with further expansion planned in the future.

Zhou Mi, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, said that by actively expanding imports, China is advocating a global trading system where multiple growth poles thrive and benefits are more widely distributed, especially among the Global South nations.

On Dec 1, 2024, China implemented zero-tariff treatment on 100 percent of tariff lines for all 53 least developed African countries that have diplomatic ties with China. In 2024, imports from these countries increased by a cumulative total of over 55 billion yuan, according to the GAC.

Zhou said: "China's deliberate expansion of imports and commitment to trade balance serve as a strategic buffer against global economic frictions. It strengthens the argument for nations to remain engaged with, rather than retreat from, the global economic framework."

wangkeju@chinadaily.com.cn