"Economic globalization is the trend of The Times. When a great river runs to the sea, it will always encounter countercurrents, but none of them can stop the great River from going east. Power helps it move forward, and resistance makes it strong. Despite many headwinds and dangerous rapids, the direction of economic globalization has never changed and will not change."

Economic globalization is the objective requirement of the development of social productive forces, the inevitable result of scientific and technological progress, and the only way to meet the needs of mankind for a better life. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), General Secretary Xi Jinping has focused on the overall trend of world development and made important remarks on economic globalization on many occasions, calling for making it more open, inclusive, balanced and beneficial to all. Focusing on the present and planning for the long term, these important statements are scientific judgments based on solid theoretical understanding and constitute an important part of Xi Jinping's Economic Thought.

To grasp the overall trend of world development and unswervingly promote economic globalization, we need to understand not only why economic globalization is the historical trend of world development, but also why economic globalization has encountered twists and turns, and more importantly, why we should continue to promote economic globalization when there are twists and turns, and how to promote economic globalization.

Economic globalization is a historical trend

The so-called economic globalization refers to the process in which economic activities cross national boundaries and regions and countries in the world are increasingly interdependent. Economic globalization is driven by the development of productive forces, mankind's aspiration for a better life and the demand for social progress. It is a basic law governing the development of human society and the historical trend of world development.

The phenomenon that economic activities cross national boundaries or cross regions has existed in ancient times. Looking back at the history, economic globalization went through three stages: first, colonial expansion and the formation of the world market. Before the First World War, the Western countries basically completed the partition of the world by extortion, power occupation and colonial expansion, and all regions and nations in the world were involved in the capitalist world system. The second is two parallel world market stages. After the end of the Second World War, a number of socialist countries were born and colonial and semi-colonial countries became independent one after another. The world formed two camps of socialism and capitalism, and two parallel markets were formed in economy. The third is the stage of economic globalization. With the end of the Cold War, the confrontation between the two camps ceased to exist, and the two parallel markets ceased to exist. The interdependence of countries greatly strengthened, and economic globalization developed and evolved rapidly.

To sum up, economic globalization can promote the development of productivity from five aspects. First, countries participating in globalization can use more resources to produce their own products with comparative cost advantages, so as to exchange their own products with relatively higher production costs, thus achieving the improvement of productivity and total output. Secondly, products that participate in globalization can gain a larger market and expand their production scale. The effect of scale economy will reduce the production cost of unit product and improve productivity. Third, market expansion can lead to a broader division of labor. The division of labor in the production process of the same product expands from within enterprises to among enterprises and from within a country to multiple countries, which can continuously improve the level of specialization in the production process of products and improve the overall production efficiency. Fourthly, countries participating in globalization will face more intense market competition, which will eliminate inefficient production, facilitate the concentration of resources to more efficient production processes, and encourage enterprises of various countries to continuously improve production efficiency and product competitiveness. Fifth, globalization is conducive to technological innovation and diffusion. Global exchange of elements of innovation, especially of people, knowledge and ideas, makes it easier to generate new knowledge and innovative results, and leads to faster diffusion of knowledge and technology. Globalization will also enable innovative products to gain larger markets and bring greater returns, resulting in greater innovation incentives, and promote the concentration of more resources into the innovation process. Furthermore, economic globalization can not only promote the development of productive forces, but also promote the progress of culture and civilization.

It is precisely because economic globalization can play these roles that it promotes economic activities to break through and weaken barriers between countries and promote the continuous development of globalization. On the one hand, the barriers caused by natural geographical factors have been constantly weakened by the progress of transportation and communication technology and the construction of transportation and communication infrastructure. On the other hand, the barriers caused by institutional factors have also been actively or passively weakened by countries. The establishment of the World Trade Organization has greatly reduced global tariff levels and reduced non-tariff barriers. The accession of China and Russia to the WORLD Trade Organization has significantly lowered institutional barriers among countries. Every breakthrough and weakening of geographical and institutional barriers will promote the development of globalization, bring about the progress of productivity, and enable mankind to obtain better and cheaper, more diverse and higher quality products, thus bringing a higher standard of living.

In today's world, where economies are highly interdependent, anti-globalization will encounter greater resistance. Human economic exchanges are deeper and more extensive than ever before, and countries are more frequently and closely interconnected and interdependent than ever before. The benefits of globalization have already benefited a large number of countries, companies, workers and consumers. These broad groups of beneficiaries would be harmed by a rollback of globalization, as well as economic prosperity and productivity progress throughout the world. Therefore, globalization is the trend of our times and the historical trend of world development. The general trend of openness and integration among countries will not change.

There will be twists and turns in economic globalization

As a historical trend, economic globalization is indeed deepening on the whole, but it is like a great river rushing forward. Sometimes it will encounter many rapids and reefs, and there will be some backwardness and twists and turns. The main reason is that globalization is a "double-edged sword", which not only promotes human progress, but also has some negative effects. Analyzed, the negative impact of globalization is mainly reflected in three aspects, that is, it may bring inequality, instability or insecurity to countries participating in globalization.

Firstly, the inequality caused by economic globalization includes two aspects: income inequality between different countries and income inequality between different groups in China. The benefits of globalization may be monopolized by some countries, while others may gain little or even impair their ability to grow long-term earnings. The overall benefits of a country's participation in globalization are generally greater than the overall losses. However, globalization may bring benefits to some people in a country and losses to others. The deterioration of this phenomenon will bring a series of social, economic and political problems. The impact of globalization on domestic income inequality exists in both developed and developing countries. Second, economic instability caused by economic globalization mainly comes from two aspects: capital flow and currency instability, and the impact of external economic environment instability on domestic economy. Third, the insecurity caused by economic globalization is mainly caused by the increase of external dependence. For example, if commodities with strategic security attributes, such as grain and oil, are over-dependent on external supply but insufficient in domestic supply, they may suffer significant losses of national interests in the face of conflicts, natural disasters and other shocks.

When the above-mentioned negative effects of economic globalization are not well compensated or managed, and the negatively affected countries or groups play a leading role in international economic policies, they may eliminate or reduce the negative effects of globalization by increasing barriers, and globalization may be reversed.

It should also be noted that the twists and turns of economic globalization are sometimes caused by an anti-globalization sentiment, not because globalization has produced or will produce negative effects. When inequality, instability or insecurity in the world economy become important and sensitive, anti-globalization sentiment is likely to rise, whether or not globalization is the cause of these problems. When anti-globalisation sentiment is amplified, spread, and exploited by policy makers, globalisation can backslide.

We will continue to promote economic globalization

It should be noted that anti-globalization cannot solve the problems facing the world today. Many of the problems plaguing the world are not caused by globalization. Simply blaming economic globalization for the problems plaguing the world is neither true nor conducive to solving the problems. In the face of twists and turns in globalization, it is a major choice to stand on the right side of history and promote historical progress. It is also a major choice to follow the trend of The Times and seize the initiative of history.

Anti-globalization measures to address the current challenges of the world economy are counterproductive. The root cause of many of today's world problems is that three major economic problems have not been effectively resolved. First, the lack of driving forces for global growth makes it difficult to sustain sustained and steady growth of the world economy. The role of traditional growth engines in driving the economy has weakened. New technologies are emerging, but new areas of economic growth have yet to emerge. The world economy has yet to blaze a new trail. Second, backward global economic governance makes it difficult to adapt to new changes in the world economy. Over the past decades, the balance of international economic power has undergone profound changes, the global industrial layout has been constantly adjusting, and the global financial market needs to be more resilient to risks. However, the global governance system has failed to reflect the new landscape, trade and investment rules have failed to keep up with the new situation, and the global financial governance mechanism has failed to adapt to new needs. Third, unbalanced global development makes it difficult to meet people's expectations for a better life. Anti-globalization measures, instead of creating new growth drivers, will further weaken growth potential; Instead of improving global economic governance, it will worsen it. Instead of promoting poverty reduction, it will push more people into poverty.

Globalization does have some negative effects, but the negative effects should not give up the huge benefits of globalization. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out, "Nothing in the world is perfect. It is neither complete to judge a thing perfect because of its merits nor complete to judge it useless because of its shortcomings. It is true that economic globalization has brought new problems, but we should not write it off. Instead, we need to adapt to and guide economic globalization, mitigate its negative impact, and bring more benefits to every country and every nation."

Furthermore, the negative effects of globalization can be resolved in globalization. For example, when sovereign countries take appropriate steps to participate in globalization in an equal manner, it is easier to achieve convergence of income disparities between countries. The damage done by globalization to some groups within a country can be compensated in two ways: one is to encourage these groups to move to sectors benefiting from globalization; the other is to compensate these groups through social security policies such as transfer payments. The negative impact of globalization on a country's domestic macroeconomic stability can be avoided by prudent capital account management, sound macro-control policies and financial regulatory system. The negative impact of globalization on security of supply can be countered by more diversified sources of supply, more abundant reserves and more stable cooperative relationships.

When globalization encounters twists and turns, on the one hand, it is important to avoid simply blaming globalization for the world's problems. On the other hand, it is important to face up to the problems arising from globalization and explore better ways to promote the continued development of globalization while overcoming its negative impacts, so that the benefits of globalization will benefit more countries and more people and promote the progress of productivity and human progress.

Chinese experience and Chinese solutions

China is a staunch force for economic globalization. Since reform and opening up, we have actively embraced globalization, seized the opportunities brought by economic globalization, continued to open wider to the outside world, and achieved historic changes in China's relations with the rest of the world.

The main experience of China's participation in globalization is to take the initiative to embrace globalization, solve the problems caused by globalization in the process of globalization, eliminate the negative effects of globalization as far as possible, and gain the benefits brought by globalization. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out, "China's development is an opportunity for the world. China has benefited from and contributed to economic globalization." In order to push forward the historical wheel of globalization and explore a better path of globalization, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward suggestions on promoting globalization on many occasions. These suggestions can be summarized as China's plan to promote globalization.

First, we should remain open and oppose isolation and exclusivity. Pursuing better development through opening-up and resolving problems arising from opening-up are important propositions of China in promoting globalization. China opposes protection, exclusion or even a return to the old road of isolation under any pretext. A divided world cannot meet the common challenges facing humanity, and confrontation will lead humanity into a dead end. We should stay committed to developing an open world economy, share opportunities and benefits through opening-up, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results. You can't retreat into the harbor at the first wind and waves, because you can never reach the other shore. We should remain committed to developing global free trade and investment, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation through opening-up, and take a clear-cut stand against protectionism.

Second, we should be inclusive and oppose monopoly of interests. On the one hand, it is important to take into account the special needs of developing countries and prevent the benefits of globalization from being absorbed by a few developed countries and the widening development gap brought about by globalization. This requires that the rules of globalization should take into account the differences in development stages and recognize the special and differential treatment of developing countries. On the other hand, it is necessary to take care of the groups harmed by globalization within a country and prevent globalization from bringing greater and greater inequality within a country. This requires all countries to choose the right path and pace of integration into economic globalization in light of their national conditions. While stressing efficiency, we should attach importance to equity so that different social strata and different groups of people can share the benefits of economic globalization. At the same time, while integrating into globalization, countries should carry out corresponding domestic reform and policy adjustment at the same time, so as to mitigate the negative impact of globalization as much as possible.

Third, we should uphold cooperation and oppose conflict and confrontation. Cooperation leads to win-win outcomes, while conflict and confrontation is a zero-sum game. Globalization is essentially a win-win process, so cooperation is the inherent requirement of globalization. History and reality have repeatedly told us that confrontation and confrontation in today's world, be it a cold war, a hot war, a trade war or a technological war, will ultimately harm the interests of all countries and the well-being of their people. We should abandon the cold War mentality and zero-sum game mentality, uphold mutual respect and understanding, and enhance political mutual trust through strategic communication. We should adhere to the concept of mutually beneficial cooperation, reject beggar-thy-neighbor and selfish narrow-minded policies, abandon the one-sided approach of monopolizing development advantages, safeguard the equal development rights of all countries, and promote common development and prosperity. We should promote competition on the basis of fairness and equity, and conduct track and field competitions in which one tries to catch up with the other and improve together, rather than engaging in combative and life-or-death competitions.

Fourth, we should stick to multilateralism and oppose unilateral bullying. Upholding multilateralism and opposing unilateral bullying means recognizing that all countries, big or small, strong or weak, rich or poor, are equal members of the international community and should participate in decision-making, enjoy rights and fulfill obligations on an equal footing. We need to reform and improve the global governance system on the basis of extensive consultation and consensus building in light of changes in the global landscape and the need to meet global challenges. We should support the international system with the United Nations at its core and the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, and further reform and improve important organizations in the multilateral system so that they can play a good role in the century-old changes. This is to give emerging markets and developing countries more representation and voice in international organizations and affairs, make the global governance system more just and bring benefits to more countries and groups.

Source: State-owned Assets And Administration Commission of The State Council