Revitalizing openness, rekindling faith in cooperation — these are the significant challenges currently faced by China, and indeed the world. The 2023 Caixin Summer Summit held Thursday and Friday in Hong Kong carries this theme at its heart. Leaders from a variety of sectors convened along the fragrant harbor, exploring new development strategies, pathways to mutual victories and innovative approaches. In addition, the inaugural Caixin Asia Vision Forum, which runs from Monday to Tuesday in Singapore, emphasizes “Anchoring the Future.” In her opening speech at this year’s summer summit, Hu Shuli, president of Caixin Media, underscored the ancient wisdom of “harmony in difference,” advocating for “harmony in diversity.” This reflects our longing to rely on global openness and cooperation to help create a more splendid future for humanity. Diversity in harmony suggests preserving individual uniqueness while fostering mutual respect and tolerance, thus facilitating harmonious coexistence. Openness and “diversity in harmony” stimulate each other: Only by adhering to the principle of “diversity in harmony” can we initiate and deepen openness; only through continuous advancement of openness can we ensure “diversity in harmony.”
In recent years, colossal changes in the global landscape, coupled with capricious geopolitical turbulence, the rise of unilateralism and isolationism, and escalating tensions from “decoupling" have continuously eroded the foundation of human trust. The outlook is concerning. Reverting to the past is not feasible, and despair provides no escape. Human history has shown that subscribing to the notion of “others as hell” merely plunges everyone into hell. Persisting with openness and sincere collaboration offers humanity a brighter prospect. The Chinese government has repeatedly emphasized that the country’s door to openness will only widen. However, promises alone can no longer rally various parties under the banner of globalization. It’s essential to foster a new landscape of openness.
Building a new landscape of openness requires a focus on institutional openness. The 2018 Central Economic Work Conference initially proposed “promoting the shift from openness in the flow of goods and elements to institutional openness.” The report from the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party further emphasized the steady expansion of rules-based, regulatory, managerial and standard-based institutional openness. Institutional openness is intricate, encompassing aspects such as property rights protection and competitive neutrality. The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year proposed that “active efforts should be made to join high-standard trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, actively compare relevant rules, regulations, management, standards, and deepen reform in related domestic fields.” As we reach mid-year, the public is keen to learn about the progress of these crucial tasks. Regardless of whether China can succeed in joining these agreements, it should first reform and improve related systems to meet their requirements. Some current policies and regulations do not align with the requirements of institutional openness, and certain administrative behaviors that arbitrarily infringe on the rights and interests of companies and citizens are in direct contradiction to the goal of openness.
The foundation of institutional openness lies in a market-oriented, law-based, and international business environment, in which marketization, legalization, and internationalization are intricately interconnected. Without the support of marketization and legalization, internationalization cannot proceed; and in a closed business environment, marketization and law-based standards lose their benchmark. Regardless of the competitive environment, market entities across all nations share common demands. All crave fair rules and a robust business environment. Institutional openness addresses this critical point. Currently, various regions are actively optimizing their business environments, with some cities even proposing to establish themselves as benchmark cities aligned with world-class business environments — a commendable ambition. While it’s true that due to different national circumstances, the rules and institutional arrangements in different countries and regions will vary, their essence should always be grounded in “harmony.”
Harmony in diversity requires a rational and tolerant mindset. After more than four decades of reform and opening-up, Chinese society has grown increasingly confident and composed. However, we can from time to time hear untimely noise and sense a strain of impatience and narrow-mindedness, such as online clamor for a tit-for-tat retaliation — if the U.S. bans Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., China should ban Apple Inc.. Not only must we be alert to the harm of such rhetoric, but we must also strive to eliminate the social conditions that breed it. The authorities cannot turn a blind eye. Similarly, while some feel threatened by the notion of “decoupling,” they mistakenly equate self-reliance with isolation and overgeneralize the concept of national security. In today’s world, there isn’t a nation that does not fully guard its national security. However, if its scope isn’t clearly defined, it can inadvertently resonate with external attempts at decoupling, and inadvertently damage China’s national security.
The ethos of harmony in diversity isn’t the sole purview of governments; it should guide civilian interactions, creating norms of conduct. As an alternative track to diplomatic relations, civilian interactions can traverse areas where government diplomacy has to tread lightly, achieving objectives that may remain elusive at the state level. Currently, as Covid-19 control measures get recalibrated, international exchanges of people are gradually returning. The recent wave of famous business people to come visit China highlights the magnetic pull of the Chinese market and underscores the need to capitalize on every available opportunity. Governments should prioritize these civilian exchanges.
Openness transcends the bounds of mere commodities and technologies; it includes the free flow of information and ideas. The latter’s demand for harmony in diversity overshadows the former. Expression must remain authentic, and dialogue, thorough. Any hesitation or ambiguity in communication renders the exercise futile. The present problems with Sino-foreign civilian exchanges is not that there are way too many, but that there are far too few. To mitigate this, Caixin, alongside its traditional Beijing summit, has since 2018 organized a summer summit, primarily in Hong Kong. This initiative aims to stimulate an enriching dialogue between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, and to foster mutual understanding between China and the global community.
Heterogeneity in harmony and harmony in diversity may differ in their initial premises and ultimate objectives, yet both encapsulate the philosophy that there is unity in diversity. This principle, symbolizing the broader path of human civilization, embodies values shared universally: peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom. Without these values, we risk ending up with mere “difference,” devoid of any “harmony.” As globally recognized open economies, Hong Kong and Singapore were chosen by Caixin Media to host its forums. These platforms welcome an array of voices and promote consensus amid diversity, thereby vividly exemplifying the spirit of harmony in diversity. On such civilian-led stages, China’s commitment to reform and openness manifests with greater authenticity, and the country’s articulated expectations and confidence appear more credible.
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