Deepened reform, opening-up to offset trade friction impact: Experts

While the ongoing trade conflict between China and the United States will benefit no one, China should focus on its own economic development driven by deepened reform and opening-up, which will help to offset all impact from trade frictions, experts said at a seminar on the trade spat held in Shanghai on Wednesday.

The basic rule of solving the trade conflict, according to Zhang Daogen, director of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, is sticking to negotiations to address all disputes.

"We have seen the signs of global economic decline due to the ongoing trade frictions. The United States has gained no profit, either. The US manufacturing industry's difficulties and the structural problems of the US economy can never be solved via a trade war, which will end up with no winner. Based on these understandings, negotiations should be the ground rule," he said.

On top of that, China should unswervingly carry on its reform and opening-up, Zhang said. Efforts should be made to maintain the multilateral trade system in the world and participate in various regional and bilateral cooperation under the multilateral trade system.

"China's opening-up strategy will remain unchanged. The country will continue to benefit from economic globalization. As long as we deepen the reform and opening-up, which is one of the most significant leaps over the past few years, China will be able to offset any negative impact," he said.

Huang Renwei, a research fellow at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, also agreed. The plan to launch six new free trade zones announced on Monday, Shenzhen, which was defined as a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics on Aug 18, and the expanded area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which was announced in early August, have all shown the country's resolution for further opening up.

Despite the outside tensions, China should focus on the development of its domestic economy, Huang said. One important step that the country has made is in the number of national-level strategies on integrated regional development in areas such as the Yangtze River Delta region. These will help to improve the quality of the country's economic development, he added.