Since the founding of the People's Republic of China 75 years ago, Hunan has conscientiously implemented the strategic decision of the Party Central Committee on developing an open economy, and effectively promoted deepening reform and opening up to the outside world. Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, facing the severe and complex domestic and international development environment, we have anchored the beautiful blueprint of "three highs and four new", vigorously built a highland of reform and opening up in inland areas, made new breakthroughs in foreign trade, taken new steps in introducing foreign investment, achieved new results in foreign economic cooperation, continued deepening of free trade zone reform, and made significant progress in foreign economic development. A new pattern of all-round opening-up has basically taken shape.
1、 New breakthroughs have been made in foreign trade
Hunan's foreign trade has gone through a development process from scratch and from small to large. In recent years, the strategy of opening up and rising has been vigorously implemented, and the supporting role of open platforms, advantageous industries, and physical enterprises has been continuously strengthened. New momentum in foreign trade has accelerated, and the scale of foreign trade has repeatedly reached new highs, while the quality of trade has steadily improved.
（1） The scale of trade has reached a new level. From the establishment of the People's Republic of China to 1978, Hunan's foreign trade gradually recovered with the recovery and development of the economy. Until 1978, 70% of foreign trade was organized to transfer goods to coastal ports such as Shanghai, Tianjin, and Guangdong for export. The total import and export volume increased from 9.48 million US dollars in 1951 to 159.18 million US dollars in 1978, with an average annual growth rate of 11.0%, but the overall scale was still relatively small.
After the reform and opening up, Hunan's foreign trade steadily developed, and its foreign trade entered the period of self operated export from transfer export. In the mid to late 1980s, a group of import and export companies were established to directly participate in international market competition. In 1991 and 1992, the total import and export volume exceeded the 1 billion and 2 billion US dollars thresholds consecutively. After China officially joined the WTO in 2001, foreign trade ushered in new opportunities for development. In 2008, the total import and export volume exceeded 10 billion US dollars (12.566 billion US dollars), and in 2012, it exceeded 20 billion US dollars, reaching 21.941 billion US dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 15.6% from 1979 to 2012.
After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Hunan fully utilized its geographical advantages under the "Belt and Road" initiative, vigorously implemented the strategy of opening up and rising, and entered a new stage of development in foreign trade, achieving significant breakthroughs and continuously reaching new heights in foreign trade scale. Measured in RMB ①, since 2017, the total import and export volume has continuously exceeded 200 billion yuan, 300 billion yuan, 400 billion yuan, and 500 billion yuan. The total import and export volume in 2023 reached 617.499 billion yuan (88.005 billion US dollars), with an average annual growth rate of 13.5% from 1952 to 2023. In 2023, the import scale of the province reached a historic high, exceeding 200 billion yuan for the first time, and the total import amount reached 216.563 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 14.0% from 1952 to 2023; The total export value is 400.936 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of 13.3%. The dependence on foreign trade has gradually increased, from 1.8% in 1978 to 6.2% in 2012 and 12.3% in 2023, an increase of 10.5 percentage points compared to before the reform and opening up.
（2） The trade structure continues to optimize, and the high-quality development is more abundant. From the perspective of trade methods, since 1994, the proportion of Hunan's general trade exports to the province's total exports has remained stable in the early stage, and has shown a V-shaped trend in the later stage. During the period of 2008-2015, we actively undertook the industrial transfer from the eastern coastal areas and vigorously developed processing trade. The proportion of general trade decreased slightly, but since 2016, the proportion of general trade exports, which better reflects the independent development ability of enterprises, has steadily increased. In 2023, the proportion of general trade exports to the total export value of the province reached 86.5%, an increase of 25 percentage points compared to 2015; Processing trade exports account for only 10.1%.
From the perspective of export commodity structure, the main force of foreign trade exports in the province is gradually shifting from labor-intensive products such as light textiles to capital and technology intensive products such as mechanical and electrical products. Since 1994, the proportion of mechanical and electrical product exports to the total export value of the province has shown an increasing trend year by year. In 2023, the proportion of mechanical and electrical product exports reached 47.9%, an increase of 36.5 percentage points from 1994.
In 1999, after China implemented the strategy of "promoting trade through science and education", Hunan's high-tech product exports entered a period of rapid growth. In 2023, the proportion of high-tech product exports in the province's total exports will be 13.8%, an increase of 11.5 percentage points from 1999. In addition to the rapid growth of exports related to advantageous industries such as construction machinery and rail transit equipment, the "new three types" of products such as electric manned vehicles, lithium batteries, and solar cells continue to make efforts. In 2023, the total export of these three types of products will be 6.702 billion yuan, and the export momentum is accelerating towards "Hunan Creation".
From the perspective of imported commodity structure, with the recovery of market demand in the province, the import of bulk commodities and key raw materials such as metal ore and mineral sand, grain, and energy products continues to expand, reaching 68.159 billion yuan in 2023, accounting for 31.5% of the total import volume in the province. In order to better meet the diversified needs of the people for a happy life, imported food, tobacco and alcohol, textiles, clothing, shoes and hats, household equipment, daily chemical products, as well as jewelry, watches and other consumer goods worth 17.925 billion yuan in 2023, accounting for 8.3% of the province's total imports.
（3） Various business entities are competing to develop, and the vitality of the private economy is bursting forth. Since the reform and opening up, with the deepening of the foreign trade system reform, the trend of diversified business entities has emerged, and various ownership economic components have continued to develop and grow. In the early 1990s, state-owned enterprises were the absolute mainstay of Hunan's foreign trade. When Hunan Provincial Investment Promotion Bureau was established in 1993, state-owned enterprises accounted for 81.8% of the province's total import and export volume, while private enterprises only accounted for 0.01%. Subsequently, private enterprises developed rapidly, demonstrating strong vitality and resilience, becoming an important support for Hunan's foreign trade growth. In 2023, there were 8384 business entities with import and export records in the province, of which private enterprises accounted for 94.6%; The import and export of private enterprises amounted to 492.771 billion yuan, accounting for 79.8% of the total import and export volume in the province; The import and export of state-owned enterprises amounted to 76.673 billion yuan, accounting for only 12.4%.
（4） Actively expanding into international markets, emerging markets are growing rapidly. Currently, Hunan maintains trade relations with 235 countries and regions around the world. The traditional market position is stable. The total proportion of imports and exports to Hong Kong, the United States, and the European Union in the province's total imports and exports in 2023 is 26.2%. The expansion of emerging markets has achieved significant results. Since 2020, ASEAN has become the largest trading partner in the province, with imports and exports to ASEAN reaching 121.876 billion yuan in 2023, accounting for 19.7% of the province's total imports and exports. Hunan is deeply involved in the joint construction of the "the Belt and Road". In 2023, the import and export of Hunan to the countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" will reach 323.27 billion yuan, accounting for 52.4%. based on the two national platforms of the China Africa Economic and Trade Expo and the China Africa Economic and Trade Deep Cooperation Pilot Zone, we continuously deepen our economic and trade cooperation with Africa. In 2023, imports and exports to Africa amounted to 55.669 billion yuan, accounting for 9.0% of the province's total imports and exports.
（5） The development of the platform is becoming more diversified, and new momentum is accelerating its accumulation. In recent years, Hunan has accelerated the construction of a multi-level and diversified open platform system, with the number of platforms ranking among the top inland provinces. As of now, there are 3 open ports, 5 comprehensive bonded zones, and 2 bonded logistics centers. In addition, significant progress has been made in the development of multimodal transportation of water, land, air, rail, and mail throughout the province. In 2023, a total of 1173 China Europe freight trains will be operated in the province, an increase of 11.2% compared to the previous year; 455 China Laos, China Vietnam, and rail sea intermodal trains, an increase of 201.3% over the previous year; There were 26 direct ships sailing from Chenglingji, Yueyang, and 37 international routes resumed at the air port. 6173 inbound and outbound flights were supervised, an increase of 305.7% over the previous year.
The rise of new forms of foreign trade such as market procurement and cross-border e-commerce has become a new driving force for Hunan's foreign trade growth. In September 2018, Gaoqiao Market was officially approved as the fourth batch of national pilot markets for market procurement and trade. By 2023, the province's market procurement and trade exports will reach 6.741 billion yuan. At present, Hunan has six national cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones, and the province's cross-border e-commerce imports and exports will reach 33.06 billion yuan in 2023.
2、 Taking New Steps in Introducing Foreign Investment
The introduction of foreign investment in Hunan began in the 1980s. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, efforts have been made to stabilize the basic pool of foreign investment, fully leverage factor costs, location, and market advantages, continuously optimize the business environment, host large-scale investment promotion activities multiple times, actively promote Hunan, and continuously expand the scale and scope of "introduction".
（1） The scale of attracting investment continues to expand, and the driving effect is significantly enhanced. By introducing foreign investment, Hunan has made up for the shortage of construction funds, shaped a good open image, introduced advanced technology and management experience, promoted economic restructuring, increased tax sources and employment opportunities.
In 1983, Yuexiang Qiangfeng Co., Ltd. (Thailand) took the first step in introducing foreign investment to Hunan. In 1991, the Hunan Provincial Government issued the "Regulations on Encouraging Foreign Investment". In 1993, Hunan Provincial Investment Promotion Bureau was established, specifically responsible for carrying out investment promotion work, opening up a new chapter in investment promotion work and attracting foreign investment to present a leapfrog development. The total amount of foreign investment introduced jumped from 260000 US dollars in 1983 to 129 million US dollars in 1992, and then grew rapidly, reaching 20.998 billion US dollars in 2020. Due to changes in statistical standards, the actual use of foreign investment in 2023 was 1.436 billion US dollars.
（2） The sources of foreign investment are becoming more diversified, and the investment fields are constantly expanding. In terms of the source of foreign investment, before 1992, Hunan's introduction of foreign investment was mainly concentrated in Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, with a majority of small and medium-sized companies and relatively small investment scales. With the gradual deepening of opening up to the outside world, the sources of foreign investment continue to expand, and developed countries and multinational corporations are increasing their investments in Hunan. In terms of foreign investment, it has gradually expanded from the industrial and infrastructure construction fields to the modern service industry. In 2023, the actual use of foreign investment in the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in the province accounted for 1.2:39.9:58.9 of the total actual use of foreign investment in the province, with the tertiary industry ranking first in terms of proportion. The top three industries that actually use foreign investment are manufacturing (432 million US dollars), real estate (350 million US dollars), and scientific research and technology services (180 million US dollars).
（3） Actively connecting with the top 500 companies and achieving significant results in attracting large and strong talents. In recent years, Hunan has actively carried out the action of "connecting with the top 500 companies and enhancing the industrial chain", attracting large and strong enterprises, in order to achieve strong, extended and supplemented chains, and promote the development of industrial clusters. In 2023, the province signed contracts with 163 "Top 500" enterprises for 440 investment projects (excluding duplicate statistics for "Top 500" enterprises), with a total investment of 491.482 billion yuan, an increase of 11.8% over the previous year. Among the signed projects, there are 75 Fortune 500 companies with 274 investment projects and an investment amount of 325.249 billion yuan, an increase of 17.5%; 72 of China's top 500 enterprises, with 148 investment projects and an investment amount of 150.343 billion yuan, an increase of 9.5%; There are 16 private top 500 enterprises with 18 investment projects and an investment amount of 15.89 billion yuan. In 2023, the province will introduce 1879 major projects with a total investment of 1346.82 billion yuan. Among them, there are 373 projects worth 1 billion yuan or more, and 16 projects worth 10 billion yuan or more.
3、 New achievements have been made in external cooperation
From the establishment of the People's Republic of China to the 1970s, Hunan's foreign economic and technological cooperation was mainly focused on foreign aid. With the restoration of China's legitimate seat in the United Nations and the establishment of diplomatic relations between China, Japan, and the United States, foreign economic work has entered a stage of recovery and development. After the Third Plenum of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Hunan's foreign economic and technological cooperation entered a new stage of development, gradually expanding its economic and technological cooperation and trade exchanges with countries and regions around the world, comprehensively expanding the fields of foreign cooperation, and continuously deepening its foreign economy. After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), we have established our own distinctive and advantageous industries, seized the major opportunity of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" initiative and the international capacity cooperation strategy, and helped the province's advantageous industries, excellent enterprises, high-quality products, and high-level "going global". The scale has been expanding, and the countries and fields of cooperation have been expanding.
（1） From the perspective of outward investment, in 2023, the province's outward direct investment will increase by 139 overseas enterprises, with a new Chinese contracted investment of 2.01 billion US dollars and an actual investment of 2.22 billion US dollars, an increase of 16.3% over the previous year. Among them, investment cooperation with the the Belt and Road signatories has developed steadily. In 2023, 73 new overseas enterprises will be set up in the "the Belt and Road" countries, with the newly increased contractual investment of 1.602 billion US dollars and the actual investment of 729 million US dollars, an increase of 108% over the previous year.
（2） From the perspective of foreign contracted projects, in 2023, the province's newly signed contracts for foreign contracted projects amounted to 2.99 billion US dollars, with a completed turnover of 2.35 billion US dollars, an increase of 33.2% over the previous year. State owned enterprises remain the backbone of foreign contracted projects, with a total turnover of 2.11 billion US dollars, accounting for 89.7% of the province's total. Among them, large enterprises that completed foreign contracted projects with a turnover of 100 million US dollars achieved a total turnover of 1.62 billion US dollars, accounting for 68.9% of the province's total. From a regional perspective, Hunan enterprises mainly focus on outsourcing projects in Asia and Latin America, achieving a turnover of 1.73 billion US dollars, accounting for 73.9%. The main countries are Mexico, India, Bangladesh, Laos, Kuwait, etc.
（3） From the perspective of dispatched labor services, in 2023, enterprises in the province dispatched 6862 laborers of various types, an increase of 26.7% over the previous year; At the end of the year, there were 14100 laborers of various types abroad, an increase of 5.8% over the previous year.
4、 The reform of free trade zones continues to deepen
In September 2020, the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone was officially unveiled. Since its establishment more than three years ago, the Free Trade Zone has fully played its important role as a carrier for realizing the beautiful blueprint of "three highs and four new", serving national strategies, focusing on Hunan's characteristics, and leveraging the advantages of the area. It has focused on building three major strategies of "one industry, one park, and one corridor", and the results of reform and innovation have gradually emerged.
Since its establishment more than three years ago (as of the end of 2023), Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone has established a total of 37700 new enterprises and introduced 367 major projects, with a cumulative total investment of 572.917 billion yuan, including 53 investment projects from top 500 enterprises in three categories; A total of 591.87 billion yuan was achieved in imports and exports, accounting for 28.4% of the province's total imports and exports; Accumulated actual use of foreign capital is 956 million US dollars.
Since its establishment more than three years ago, Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone has formed and released two batches of 84 institutional innovation achievements, including 39 national firsts. Eight institutional innovation achievements have been promoted nationwide by the State Council or relevant national departments; The first batch of 22 reform pilot experiences and typical cases of reform and innovation in Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone have been replicated and promoted throughout the province, including 8 reform pilot experiences and 14 typical cases of reform and innovation.
In the past, a thousand layers of brocade have been displayed, and the Ming Dynasty has even advanced to a hundred foot pole! Looking ahead to the future, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, Hunan will vigorously seize new opportunities for development, steadfastly continue to optimize the new pattern of all-round opening up to the outside world, and create a highland of reform and opening up in inland areas with higher levels of openness, better institutional environment, stronger radiation effect, and more abundant economic vitality!
Note:
① The foreign trade data is sourced from Changsha Customs. According to the unified arrangement of the General Administration of Customs, before 2013, the customs only expressed import and export statistical data denominated in US dollars. In 2013, a pilot project was launched to publish import and export statistical data denominated in Chinese yuan. Starting from January 2015, the customs only expressed import and export statistical data denominated in Chinese yuan in various information carriers and press releases, and continued to retain various statistical data reports denominated in US dollars.
② import and export data were foreign trade statistics before 1994, and customs statistics after 1994, with more detailed classifications.
③ The actual use of foreign investment data comes from the Provincial Department of Commerce. Starting from 2021, the statistical caliber of "actual use of foreign capital" has been adjusted to only include foreign direct investment and not indirect investment. Therefore, the total amount cannot be compared with the data released in the same period last year.