Institutional opening-up a must to adapt to changes

Editor's note: China will steadily advance institutional opening-up. China Economic Times spoke to Gao Lingyun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of World Economics and Politics, and Chen Hongna, an associate researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council, on how this can help the country forge new advantages in international competition. Below are excerpts of the interview. The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

The advance of institutional opening-up can help unlock dividends from institutional innovation and attract high-end global advanced technologies, data and talent. It can also enable China to reshape its competitive advantages, moving beyond industrial advantages toward stronger rule-making capacity.

China should remove the institutional barriers that impede the free flow of factors, fully unleash the dynamism of its vast domestic market and strengthen the economy's resilience against external shocks by aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules.

Competition among major powers may at times manifest itself in disputes over tariffs or technology, but ultimately it converges on rules and standards. A rational engagement is needed to contain differences within a rules-based framework and sustain long-term competition within acceptable boundaries. Only through openness and institutional alignment, and by embedding domestic systems into global rule-making networks, can a country earn both the legitimacy and the capacity to participate in shaping international rules.

In the new phase of economic globalization, institutional arrangements have increasingly become region — and bloc-based, while industry and supply chains continue to be hybrids of localization and globalization. Enterprises must simultaneously consolidate their domestic presence and maintain global capabilities. Institutional opening-up helps bridge gaps between different markets, creating a multilayered environment in which rules are compatible and flows are smoother.

At this critical juncture, proactive engagement and openness are essential. Otherwise, rules will be formulated elsewhere and imposed through agreements, certification systems and market access requirements, leaving latecomers to bear high compliance costs and risk being locked into unfavorable technological pathways.

China's participation in international competition and cooperation is increasingly characterized by a shift from "at-the-border" to "behind-the-border" institutional competition, a global value chain reorientation driven not only by efficiency but also by security and values, and the rise of digital trade and green development as new frontiers of competition and collaboration.

China's economic scale and capabilities entail greater responsibility to contribute institutional solutions that balance development needs with security concerns. Meanwhile, the country's substantial interests in emerging fields require translating cost advantages at the manufacturing end into sustainable rule-based advantages.

The key to the transition from accepting rules to guiding rules lies in translating China's vast industrial practices into universally applicable international rules. First, at the research and development stage, efforts should be made to integrate into the international advanced standard system and eliminate market access barriers through bilateral and multilateral mutual recognition mechanisms.

Second, building on its first-mover advantages in fields such as new energy, cross-border e-commerce and mobile payments, the country should actively participate in the work of international organizations, promoting the process of patenting technologies, standardizing patents and internationalizing standards.

Third, China can leverage cooperation frameworks to pilot the promotion of Chinese standards in emerging markets. Through widespread practical application, the country can drive the integration and updating of international standard systems, ultimately securing discourse power in the global value chain.