Core direction of human development reflected in China's development: British economist

BEIJING, April 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from People's Daily:

John Ross, British economist and former director for economic and business policy for the mayor of London, recently received an exclusive interview with People's Daily.

From the perspective of a Western scholar, Ross, also a senior fellow at Renmin University of China's Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, examined the historical logic and global significance of China's pursuit of high-standard opening up, noting that China's continued opening up is not only essential to its own development but also a rare source of certainty in a turbulent world.

Ross has observed and studied China's economy since 1978, when China started its reform and opening up drive.

"When China was at a low level, it dared to make up its mind to open up to the outside world. This courage and judgment are very rare," he told People's Daily.

Calling China's success "comprehensive," Ross said the great changes in China are unbelievable throughout human history.

He pointed out that openness has become a social consensus in China, integrated into China's national mentality and cultural characteristics, and taking the road of internationalization is an inevitable choice for China.

China is currently making every effort to promote institutional opening up, transitioning from traditional "opening up based on the flow of factors" to a "rules-based, system-level opening."

Ross said this change is very necessary and wise. Institutional opening is not opening without principles, but building an institutional system that suits itself on the basis of following international general rules.

China's path has clear logic and steady steps, which is in line with the country's stage and the trend of globalization, he explained.

Currently, global protectionism and unilateralism are on the rise. Ross commented that protectionism will hurt the global economy, but it will not be enough to reverse the trend of openness in human history.

He said protectionism cannot stop the mainstream of global openness. Most countries in the world, especially the emerging countries in the Global South, have not chosen protectionism, but continue to adhere to opening up.

China is the world's second-largest economy and largest trading nation in goods. Its development achievements and open attitude have shown the value of cooperation to all countries, therefore providing more cooperation options and opportunities for countries in the global South.

Ross believes that China's firm commitment to expanding high-level opening up will drive economic growth in China and the world. China has a super large domestic market and a complete industrial system, which are favorable conditions for the sustained improvement of the Chinese economy.

In recent years, China has firmly chosen the path of open development and has also reaped the fruits of openness -- the Chinese economy has maintained stable growth, and the people have gained practical benefits from economic development, he said.

The outline of China's 15th Five-Year Plan introduced a series of new development measures, and Ross has expressed particular interest in China's scientific and technological innovation.

He said China has transformed from a technological leader in a few fields at the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan period(2021-2025) to a global leader in electric vehicles, renewable energy, artificial intelligence and other fields, and this transformation is amazing.

According to Ross, the core of China's scientific and technological achievements lies in the high proportion of R&D investment and high conversion efficiency of this into products. High-level R&D investment, deep integration with the real economy, and scientific guidance, these three factors will promote China's technological breakthroughs.

"I believe that the implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan will allow China to take the lead in an increasing number of fields of global science and technology, and through extensive cooperation with other developing countries, it will also promote the common interests of all countries," Ross noted.

Ross believes that at the current historical stage, the core direction of human development is reflected in China's development. He said China has chosen an open path that suits its own national conditions and has presented a historical opportunity. China's opening up over the past 40 years has proved the correctness of this path with practical results.

"I hope that more countries can learn from China's opening up and jointly promote the global economy in a better direction," he said.

SOURCE People's Daily