Editor's note: Tang Jie is a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

China's pursuit of high-quality development is guided by the core concept of "building a new development pattern." At its essence, this pattern emphasizes "making domestic circulation the mainstay, with domestic and foreign circulations (markets) mutually reinforcing each other." This strategic assessment, grounded in China's current developmental stage, evolving environment, and prevailing conditions, holds profound global and historic significance.

This concept was also incorporated into the "Proposal" for the 14th Five-Year Plan at the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee. Its connotations can be summarized as follows:

1. Smooth domestic circulation and enhance the driving force of domestic demand, with consumption, investment, and innovation as the main dynamics;

2. Optimize and expand the international circulation, and ensure that connectivity and resource flows complement and reinforce each other in a higher level of opening up .

Domestic circulation as the mainstay and seizing the development initiative

The current global situation is complex and volatile, with global recovery post COVID-19, trade frictions, and anti-globalization trends becoming prominent. Only by unblocking domestic circulation and enhancing the resilience of the national economy can China ensure its independent development amid external turmoil and ensure that the process of national rejuvenation is not interrupted by external interference. With a population of over 1.4 billion, more than 400 million middle-income groups, a massive market, and the world's most comprehensive industrial system, China has fertile ground for internal circulation.

With per capita GDP crossing $10,000, China's economy is shifting from a factor-driven to an innovation-driven one. Focusing on domestic circulation can effectively improve supply quality, stimulate innovation potential, and alleviate the problem of "unbalanced and inadequate" growth, aligning with China's development stage and structural adjustment needs. Taking expanding domestic demand as the strategic foundation and clearing bottlenecks in production, distribution, circulation, and consumption can not only offset the contraction of external demand, but also drive industrial upgrading through consumption upgrades, create new demand through supply-side structural reforms, and promote dynamic economic balance at a higher level. Only by promoting the upgrading of the domestic market and the modernization of the production system, accelerating the development of strategic emerging and future industries through the "New Quality Productivity", and building a modern economic system can we inject endogenous momentum into domestic circulation.

Dual circulation promotes each other and brings more opportunities to the world

The mutually reinforcing domestic and international dual circulations represent an upgraded version of participating in the global division of labor at a higher level and a model of development that contributes to global development. The domestic market, as the primary force, can withstand international shocks, while the international circulation provides external space and resource support for domestic demand, enabling stable and sustainable development.

The domestic circulation is not self-enclosed, but rather, through institutional openness, better connects international markets, rules, and factors, bringing in advanced global technology and capital while also allowing China's more competitive industrial and innovation chains to "go global." Within this dual circulation model, China is expanding international collaboration through the Belt and Road Initiative and free trade zones, forming diverse third-party markets and enhancing the stability and depth of the external circulation.

Faced with de-globalization, the impact of the pandemic, and geopolitical competition, China has not exploited its neighbors. Instead, it has transformed its massive domestic demand potential into public goods shared by the world. China has continued to expand imports, maintaining its average annual contribution to global economic growth at around 30 percent. It has promoted high-quality development in the Belt and Road Initiative, doubling its trade in goods with countries along the route over the past decade. China has championed global development initiatives, aligned them with the UN 2030 Agenda, and strengthened cooperation on rules and standards in emerging sectors such as green development, digital development, and health.

Building a dual circulation structure represents China's shift from passively accepting rules to actively defining them, from a "rule-taker" to a "rule-definer." This is achieved through the deep integration of comprehensive strength and institutional innovation, and provides a "de-hegemonic" development paradigm for the world. Facts have proven that the smoother China's domestic circulation, the greater the opportunities it brings to the world; the more upgraded China's industrial chain, the more stable the global supply chain. Through dual circulation, China is transforming its economic resilience into a sustained driving force for global economic recovery, injecting strong confidence and certainty into the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.