China’s 40 Years of Opening-up: Evaluation and Prospects

Abstract

The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening policy. The opening of China to the outside world for the past 40 years started with the establishment of special economic zones, and was accelerated by its accession to the WTO, which has made an important contribution to the rising status of the Chinese economy in the global context. As China celebrates its 40th anniversary of reform and opening-up, it faces new challenges both internally and externally. Internally, there is a growing need to link China’s opening to the outside world with domestic restructuring, while, externally, countries like the United States are pushing back against China’s rise. To cope with such environmental changes, China is showing signs of embarking on a new opening policy. In the 25 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Korea and China, China has emerged as Korea's largest trading partner and second largest investment destination, and the influence of changes in China's foreign policy on the Korean economy and Korea-China cooperation is also growing. Therefore, this study comprehensively looks at China's opening policy over the 40 years of its reform and opening policy, and anticipates the direction of the opening policy which Xi Jinping will pursue in his second term. For this purpose, we identified major areas (regional opening strategy, foreign direct investment strategy, outward investment strategy, FTA strategy, and the U.S.-China trade relationship) to examine changes in the opening policy, going on to present countermeasures that Korea may take.