Du Ping, director of the Spatial Planning and Regional Economy Institute of China's State Development Planning Commission, noted at the recently concluded China-ASEAN Macro-economic Forum that China’s opening-up policy has made two major changes in line with the requirements of various development stages: One is the implementation of opening-up in aspects of both policies and systems; the other is the transition from a system of restricted “import” to one encouraging both “import” and “export.”

Du Ping says with regards to export, the central government has taken many successive measures, such as withdrawing financial subsidies on exports, abolishing decretory plans on purchasing, transferring and allocating resources, expanding the management rights of export enterprises as well as reducing the number of export merchandize categories which require export licenses, and introducing bidding and allocation systems on quoted commodities.

With regards to reforms in foreign trade import policies, the government has taken the initiative to gradually lower tariffs, introduce preferential policies on taxation of imported equipment and technologies encouraged by the state, establish various special open economic zones and relevant opening-up systems. While examining the reform of relevant policies, such as taxation, investment, financing and industrial policy, the government has executed designs in line with the requirements of those special open economic zones, giving these areas increased economic management agility and favorable rights in system construction.

Statistics released by State Development Planning Commission show that over the past 20 years or so, the annual growth rate of technical industrial trade income, profit and tax of enterprises, together with foreign exchange profit earned from export within these open economic zones have all exceeded 50 percent.

(china.org.cn by Li Xiao, November 7, 2002)