Recently, a series of new policies and measures that mark the further expansion of opening up have attracted widespread attention, such as the issuance and opening of the new version of the permanent residence ID card for foreigners, the significant increase in flights between China and foreign countries, and the entry of the first Laos grain train into China through the China-Laos railway. Personnel exchanges at home and abroad are more convenient, the flow of goods is smoother, and China's high-level opening up is improving the quality and growth rate.

A number of airport ports have welcomed visa-free passengers

Starting from December 12, China has expanded the scope of unilateral visa-free countries on a trial basis, from the original 1 to 2. On the basis of the original Brunei and Singapore, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Malaysia have been added. In the past few days, many airports in China have ushered in the first batch of visa-free passengers.

On December 12, at Shenzhen Airport in Guangdong, the first batch of more than 1 passengers who met the visa-free policy entered the country smoothly. On December 50, in Nanning, Guangxi, the first batch of 12 Malaysian tourists enjoying the visa-free policy successfully completed the entry procedures and started their journey to China.

Malaysian traveller: The first time I came to China, it felt very different, because this time it was visa-free, so there was no need to waste time waiting for this visa process, we all felt very good when we got this news, so there will be more Malaysians to travel to China.

After the implementation of the new policy, local border inspection ports have also taken timely measures to ensure smooth customs clearance for passengers.

Spanish travelers: It's better now, after the visa waiver, the entry will be faster.

Italian travelers: Because after the new visa-free policy is implemented, it has become easier for foreigners to enter China, which is more attractive, so there may be more people to visit your beautiful country and beautiful city.

At Frankfurt Airport in Germany, there is a long queue in front of the check-in counter for flights to China.

German Tourist Mohr: I think it's a positive gesture that shows that China is opening up to the outside world, and it's very convenient for tourists to visit China, even if it's a short transit.

New measures have been introduced frequently to facilitate personnel exchanges at home and abroad

In addition to the unilateral visa-free landing of the six countries, what are the new measures to deepen opening up? Focus on the quality and growth rate of China's high-level opening-up. Let's first take a look at the convenience brought by the introduction of new policies and measures.

On December 12, the new version of the permanent residence ID card for foreigners was officially issued and put into use. Due to the addition of the five-star element that reflects the national logo, the new version of the permanent residence permit is also known as the "five-star card".

Mao Xu, Director of the Department of Foreigner Management of the National Immigration Administration: The permanent residence ID card for foreigners is a legal identity document issued by the National Immigration Administration to eligible foreigners after they approve their permanent residence in China.

The new version of the permanent residence ID card for foreigners can be used separately when it is necessary to prove personal identity in the fields of social public services, government services and Internet services, and there is no need to present their foreign passports. For example, the holder can enter and exit multiple times with the "five-star card" and a valid passport, without the need to go through additional procedures such as visas or residence permits; In addition, if you take planes, trains, ships and other means of transportation in China, as well as stay in domestic hotels, you can check in with the "five-star card". On the basis of the full realization of offline applications, the "five-star card" has also been included in the types of documents recognized for use in the application software of major Internet platforms and social public services and government services such as "National Government Service Platform", "Railway 12306", "Traffic Management 12123" and "Individual Income Tax".

Russian Soronin: I feel different, I feel as if I have been affirmed and recognized for our contribution.

Singaporean Chio Kok Chuen: I think it's a policy for those of us who have contributed a little bit in China and really want to continue living here, so I think it's a very good policy.

The price of direct flight tickets between China and the United States has continued to decline

In the past year, the procedures for traveling between China and abroad have not only become more convenient, but also the cost has been reduced. From November 11, the number of direct scheduled passenger flights between China and the United States will be increased again, and the number will increase to 9 flights per week for the 2023/2024 winter and spring season, with each airline operating 70 flights per week. Since the beginning of this year, with the repeated increase in flights between China and the United States, the price of air tickets, which was once "hard to find", has begun to continue to decline. The price of a direct flight from Beijing to San Francisco has dropped from 35,1 yuan at the beginning of the year to 5,9000 yuan in the summer, to about 9,8000 yuan in September, and to 11,6500 yuan in November. The price of air tickets to New York has also dropped from 2,8000 yuan at the beginning of the year to about 1,5 yuan. The price of air tickets from Shanghai to Los Angeles has also dropped from 5000,<> yuan at the beginning of the year to about <>,<> yuan at present, and the price is only one-third of the highest point of the year.

Traveler: The price is okay, it should be quite expensive to go to Los Angeles during the epidemic before, but now it should be almost half of the price.

Beijing Daxing International Airport opened its first direct flight to Mongolia

On the 3rd, Beijing Daxing International Airport's first direct route to Mongolia was officially opened. The route runs between Beijing Daxing International Airport and Mongolia's New Genghis Khan International Airport, with three round-trip flights per week, and the opening of the route will better meet the travel needs of business, tourism, and study passengers in China and Mongolia. At the same time, the development of freight transportation at home and abroad has also added impetus. Also on the 3rd, the first China-Laos Railway Laos grain special train full of Laos grain, departed from Mohan Station, and the goods were sent to all parts of the country after arriving at Yunnan Mengzi North Station, and the whole running time of the special train will be reduced by 1 to 2 days compared with road transportation, and the transportation cost can also be reduced by 20%. In addition, since the opening of the China-Laos Railway in the past two years, the cargo transportation capacity and efficiency have been continuously improved, and the number of cross-border freight trains per day has increased from 2 at the beginning of its opening to 14 at present. The China-Laos Railway has 400 international freight trains on the Lancang-Mekong Express, and the cargo transportation radiates to 12 Belt and Road countries including Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar and 31 major cities in China.

How to interpret the recent "acceleration run" of China's high-level opening-up?

How do you view the recent "acceleration of China's high-level opening-up"? Let's listen to Wu Sa, deputy director of the Economic Research Institute of the China Academy of Macroeconomics.

Wu Sa, Deputy Director of the Economic Research Institute of the China Academy of Macroeconomics: Since the beginning of this year, China has promoted opening-up from a higher starting point and continuously gathered strong momentum for high-quality development. In the first ten months, the total import and export value of China's trade in goods was 34.32 trillion yuan, and the trend of positive development was further revealed. There were 41947,32 newly established foreign-invested enterprises, a year-on-year increase of 1.9 percent, and the actual use of foreign capital in high-tech manufacturing increased by 5.<> percent. In today's world, openness and integration are the trend of the times, and openness is a distinctive symbol of contemporary China. As we enter the critical period of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, it is of great significance to implement a more proactive and high-level opening-up strategy to achieve high-quality development and build a new development pattern. China is the world's largest importer and exporter of goods trade and the second largest exporter of services trade, and it is conducive to enhancing China's voice on the world economic stage by focusing only on expanding exports to paying equal attention to encouraging exports and increasing imports. At the same time, China has formed the world's largest middle-income group, and a higher level of opening up will help better meet the diverse, personalized and high-quality consumption needs of the people. High-level opening up has increasingly become a necessity for China's development. China's door to opening up will not be closed, but will only open wider and wider. By promoting reform and development through opening up, China's road to high-quality development will become wider and wider.

The Chain Expo will build a new open platform to promote win-win results through openness

In recent years, China has also made every effort to create a new window for promoting high-level opening up. The just-concluded first China International Supply Chain Promotion Expo attracted 515 Chinese and foreign enterprises and institutions to participate in the exhibition, and the number of visitors reached 15,515. Among the 26 exhibitors, 55% are overseas exhibitors, covering 36 countries and regions. Among the overseas exhibitors, American and European companies accounted for 200%. According to incomplete statistics, more than 1500 cooperation agreements and intention agreements were signed at this year's Chain Expo, involving an amount of more than <> billion yuan. Relevant U.S. exhibitors generally expressed their willingness to strengthen cooperation with Chinese companies and take root in China's long-term development. Relevant business associations in the United States, Britain, France, Canada and other countries said that they will organize a larger delegation to participate in the exhibition in China next year.

An open and inclusive sharing platform generates a strong appeal. At the first Chain Expo, the world's top 500 companies and leading enterprises in the global supply chain system were unveiled.

Zhang Xiaoping, Chief Representative of the Greater China Region of the U.S. Soybean Export Association: There is no such international platform before, and the Chain Expo is a great opportunity to jointly promote the development of our entire soybean industry towards high quality.

Zhang Yihao, Executive Vice President of GE Healthcare: The strength and resilience of China's supply chain are recognized around the world. In the last 12 months, we have opened two new factories in China.

Many international participants said that the way of "exhibition chain and ecology" of the Chain Expo also brought them unexpected new gains.

Chief Representative of Maersk Group North Asia: It can be seen from the Chain Expo that China has developed a very efficient and modern supply chain. The level of automation is getting higher and higher, and the technology is becoming more and more advanced. We will continue to deepen our investment in the Chinese market.

John Denton, Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce: For us, the Chain Expo is a very important opportunity to maintain the stability of the supply chain through the open platform it provides, which can promote greater trade and bring greater development opportunities for all.

How can high-level opening-up, quality improvement and growth rate contribute to high-quality economic development?

China is continuously providing international public goods and services that are shared by the whole world, and promoting the construction of an open world economy. At the 289th China International Import Expo held not long ago, 500 of the world's top 17 and industry leading enterprises participated in the exhibition. For the first time, the U.S. government led 200 exhibitors, including Idaho, Georgia, national agricultural product associations, and agricultural exporters, to the exhibition. There are more than <> exhibitors from the United States, which is the largest and highest-level American delegation in the history of the Expo. How will China's continuous promotion of high-level opening-up contribute to high-quality economic development? Continue to listen to the analysis of Wu Sa, deputy director of the Economic Research Institute of the China Academy of Macroeconomics.

Wu Sa, Deputy Director of the Institute of Economic Research, China Academy of Macroeconomics: China's economic development achievements have been made under the conditions of openness, and the high-quality development of China's economy in the future must also be carried out under more open conditions. Today, with increasingly close economic and trade exchanges between countries, high-level opening-up not only brings necessary products, technologies and capital to China, but also helps China to integrate with international rules, continue to deepen reforms, improve the basic system of market economy, create a market-oriented, law-based and international first-class business environment, and promote the construction of a high-level socialist market economy system, which can provide a strong institutional guarantee for high-quality economic development. High-level opening-up is also an inevitable way to enhance China's economic innovation and competitiveness. At present, the trend of global opening up has gradually shifted from border areas such as tariffs and investment access to post-border fields such as industrial policy, intellectual property policy, and environmental policy. In particular, the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation in the ascendant is reshaping the global innovation map and reshaping the global economic structure. With the help of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, we will accelerate the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy by benchmarking foreign advanced technologies and leading industries, and promote China's steady progress from a manufacturing country to a manufacturing power in the process of increasing economic innovation and competitiveness, and promote China's industry to move towards the middle and high end of the global value chain, so that new progress will be made in high-quality economic development. Achieving a high level of opening-up and promoting reform and development through opening-up are the objective requirements for the high-quality development of China's economy. Unswervingly expanding opening-up in an all-round way, striving to improve the level of opening-up, and continuously releasing high-level opening-up dividends can inject a steady stream of energy into the high-quality development of China's economy and promote the steady and long-term development of the economy.

(CCTV News Client)