China trade economy File photo: VCG

Over the course of 2024, despite rising uncertainties in the global economy, China has been steadfastly pursuing high-quality development and high-standard opening-up and implemented a series of landmark policies. 

Notably, the country has granted all least developed countries that have diplomatic relations with China zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines, and abolished all market access restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector. Events such as the China International Import Expo (CIIE) and the China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) have been pivotal in promoting global collaboration. China has also extended visa-free transit stays to 240 hours with more entry points.

As one piece of evidence marking a significant milestone in the country's ongoing opening-up efforts, the Perennial General Hospital Tianjin, China's first wholly foreign-owned, third-grade general hospital, is expected to commence operations very soon, the Global Times learned from the hospital on Friday.

This comes after North China's Tianjin Municipality issued a license for medical services to the hospital on Monday, which signifies China's commitment to further opening up its medical sector. 

In late November, the country unveiled a plan to allow the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in major cities including Tianjin, the Xinhua News Agency reported. 

The hospital is invested and built by Singapore's Perennial Holdings Private Limited and has a total investment of around 1 billion yuan ($140 million).

"We highly commend China's open-door foreign investment policy on healthcare, which is not widely adopted by countries around the world. This forward-looking policy sends a strong, positive signal to the international investment community, boosts confidence for investors keen on China's healthcare space and drives foreign investments and foreign-local collaborations given the growth prospects of China," a spokesperson for Perennial Holdings Private Limited, told the Global Times on Friday.

"A series of recent measures clearly demonstrate China's unwavering commitment to advancing opening-up. They indicate China's willingness to share development opportunities with countries around the world and achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes," Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Friday.

China's high-level opening-up has also been reflected through the removal of all market access restrictions for foreign investors in the manufacturing sector, a landmark move made by the world's second-largest economy as it opens its doors wider. The new edition of the national negative list for foreign investment took effect on November 1, scrapping the two remaining manufacturing-related items on the previous list. The items on the latest negative list, which specifies fields that are off-limits to foreign investors, have been further slashed to 29, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Moreover, starting from December, China will give all the least developed countries with which it has diplomatic relations zero-tariff treatment for 100 percent tariff lines, becoming the first major developing country and the first major economy to take such a significant measure.

Meanwhile, China is actively building various international exchange and cooperation platforms. The seventh CIIE concluded in Shanghai in November, resulting in an intended transaction amount of $80.01 billion, a 2 percent increase from the previous year. 

This year's CISCE attracted close to 700 exhibitors from 69 countries and international organizations. Over 60 percent of the exhibitors are Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders, and the proportion of foreign exhibitors rose from 26 percent at the first CISCE to 32 percent.

"China's opening-up fostered a deeper integration of global supply chains, providing application scenarios for technologies and products worldwide, thereby accelerating technological advancement and industrial upgrading," Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the Digital-Real Economies Integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Friday.

On a global scale, China's commitment to opening-up offers countries around the world greater market opportunities and investment options, contributing to global economic recovery and growth, Wang said.

China also announced on Tuesday a significant relaxation of its visa-free transit policy, extending the permitted stay for eligible foreign travelers from the original 72 and 144 hours to 240 hours, or 10 days. 

Effective immediately, 21 additional ports have been designated for visa-free entry and exit, and the areas in which transit travelers can stay have been expanded, according to a statement from the National Immigration Administration.

China's increasing opening-up is set to create a more conducive environment for global travel. The policy will not only enhance the country's attractiveness as a host for various international conferences and exhibitions but will also significantly boost inbound tourism, Zhou Weihong, a deputy general manager of Shanghai Spring Tour, told the Global Times on Friday.

Further opening-up 

The recent Central Economic Work Conference further stressed efforts to promote high-standard opening up as being one of the key tasks for 2025.

Work should be done to expand voluntary and unilateral opening up in an orderly manner, and steadily enhance institutional opening up, according to the meeting, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Work should be done to actively develop service trade, green trade and digital trade, further reform the institutions and mechanisms for promoting foreign investment, steadily open up the service sector, expand the pilot programs in opening up such fields as telecom, healthcare and education, and continue to make China a favored destination for foreign investment, according to the meeting.

The strong message of opening-up further strengthened the confidence of multinational companies in deepening their expansion in the Chinese market.

As the new year approaches, Shanghai Disney Resort told the Global Times on Friday that it will continue to advance its ongoing expansion projects, a new Spiderman-themed attraction and a third Disney-themed hotel, and will announce more project updates in the future.

In the first 11 months this year, the number of new foreign-funded companies in China increased by 8.9 percent year-on-year, signaling a vote of confidence in the China market.