Foreign trade laws need supporting measures to foster high-level opening-up

The decision of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Communist Party of China Central Committee to continue adhering to and improving socialism with Chinese characteristics, and to expedite the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity means that China should improve the foreign trade laws and rules system in order to promote higher-level opening-up.

The foreign trade laws and rules system is the general name for all the laws and regulations related to foreign trade, including not only administrative laws and regulations such as the Customs Law and the Import and Export Commodity Inspection Law, but also laws and regulations related to foreign trade and economic relations such as the Contract Law and Foreign Investment Law. And the rules system covers not only domestic laws and regulations but also international treaties and conventions.

Since the launch of reform and opening-up－especially since it joined the World Trade Organization－China has continuously improved its foreign trade laws and rules system with the aim of making them standardized and transparent, and globally pertinent. But China still faces several problems in building a comprehensive legal framework for foreign trade, which has acquired additional importance due to the rising trend of anti-globalization and protectionism in some economies.