Under the conditions of economic globalization, what are the fundamental changes in the economic functions of the government?

1. Accelerating the transformation of government functions and meeting the challenges of globalization is a global issue

The so-called economic globalization (Globalization) refers to the transformation of goods, services, production factors and information The scale and form of cross-border flows continue to increase, and the efficiency of resource allocation within the world market is improved through the international division of labor, thereby leading to a trend of increasing economic interdependence among countries. Since the Second World War, especially in the past 20 years, driven by technological progress, the process of economic globalization has gradually accelerated and has become an irreversible trend in world economic development. With the continuous reduction of international trade barriers, international merchandise trade has grown rapidly, with an average growth rate of 5.6 from 1980 to 1995. Service trade has suddenly emerged, with an average annual growth rate of 9.3, both higher than the world economic growth rate in the same period; international investment has become increasingly active, and transnational The company carries out production and operation activities on a global scale, and its cumulative output capital has reached 3.5 trillion US dollars, becoming the main body of economic globalization; financial internationalization has accelerated, the transaction volume of the international financial market has increased by leaps and bounds, and the major international financial markets have formed a temporal relationship with each other. A trading network that is linked to each other in terms of connection and price; the rapid expansion of the international Internet, the rapid and convenient flow of international information, and the formation of a "global village" in the sense of information exchange. ?

The essence of economic globalization is the continuous deepening of the world's unified market. Therefore, economic globalization reflects the inherent requirements of the development of productive forces. Technological progress and the improvement of economic development level objectively require the deepening of division of labor and the expansion of market scale. This requirement drives the development of production from domestic regional division of labor to international division of labor, and the expansion of sales from the domestic market to the international market. The global new technological revolution represented by information technology has accelerated the major adjustment of industrial structures in various countries around the world, and the scale of vertical industrial transfer has expanded rapidly around the world. In the process of pursuing economies of scale and division of labor, through transnational investment activities, multinational companies have formed a pattern of allocating resources globally and coordinating their production and business activities across borders, promoting the rapid development of intra-industry trade and intra-company trade. At the same time, the massive increase in transnational investment, production and trade activities will inevitably require the rapid development of the international financial market to ensure the efficient operation of such transnational business activities. ?

While the process of economic globalization is obviously accelerating, the wave of new technological revolution represented by information technology is in the ascendant. As the new technological revolution and economic globalization continue to deepen, governments of all countries are facing many new challenges. ?

First of all, with the acceleration of technological progress, the life cycle of products is getting shorter and shorter, and the risk of technological loss in the manufacturing industry is increasing. Some developed countries have transferred traditional industries abroad to prepare for development. The new economy has freed up space, which has resulted in a significant reduction in employment opportunities in traditional industries. How to transfer labor into emerging industries is a major issue faced by the governments of developed countries. For developing countries, the transnational transfer of industries brings major opportunities for economic development. However, there is fierce competition among developing countries in attracting foreign investment. How to better meet the requirements of investors and improve the investment environment , is an issue that governments in developing countries urgently need to solve. ?

Secondly, in order to gain competitive advantages in the increasingly fierce international competition, multinational companies have increasingly refined their production layout. Different from the previous division of labor among industries in various countries, the advancement of economic globalization has made Multinational companies can allocate different production links of a product globally based on the principle of lowest cost. The resulting change is that developing countries have become more and more important in the manufacturing field, and have even become important assembly and export bases for some high-tech products. Intra-industry trade has increasingly replaced inter-industry trade and has become an increasingly important factor in the development of international trade. new impetus. However, for the governments of developing countries, the main problem they face is that on the one hand, they need to improve the investment environment by introducing international business rules; on the other hand, they need to consider how to combine foreign industries with local industries and continuously integrate them. The industrial chain is pushed upstream, allowing foreign industries to take root locally.

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Third, economic globalization is rule-based globalization. As countries increasingly integrate into the world economy, they have to accept more and more international rules. Compared with the traditional closed economy, some economic sovereignty that was considered to belong to a country in the past may have been partially transferred to international organizations or international rules. Moreover, the scope of globalization rules is getting wider and wider, and any When a sovereign country exercises its economic sovereignty, such as formulating industrial policies, it is increasingly restricted by international rules. Therefore, in the past, some emerging countries used strong intervention in industrial policies to promote economic development. In the global environment, it is becoming increasingly difficult. Some policy measures are difficult to continue to use. How to adopt measures that can effectively promote economic development and are consistent with the situation? The development strategies and development models of international rules are a new challenge for the governments of every developing country. ?

Fourth, economic globalization has deepened the economic interdependence of various countries. Financial opening has led to a significant increase in the volume and speed of cross-border capital flows, which has led to an increase in economic risks. While governments of various countries are enjoying the benefits of the deepening division of labor brought about by globalization, they also have to explore how to minimize the risks of opening up. ?

In the face of the above-mentioned new situations and new challenges, how to adapt to the new situation and adjust government functions so as to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages in the process of globalization is not only an issue faced by the governments of developing countries, but also by developed countries. Issues facing national governments. Therefore, accelerating the transformation of government functions has become a global issue. ?

2. International experience in adjusting government functions in the context of economic globalization?

In the context of economic globalization, the basic goal of adjusting government functions is to fully reflect the requirements of the market , by improving the efficiency of government management and services, making the domestic market more internationally competitive, thereby maximizing the international competitiveness of the domestic economy without violating international rules. ?

Specifically, the impact of economic globalization on the transformation of government functions can be summarized into the following nine main aspects: ?

First, the way the government supports its own economy has changed. . After the Second World War, the catch-up economies represented by Japan and South Korea that implemented industrial policies achieved great success and became a model for many developing countries to imitate. However, the international rules of economic globalization have put forward various restrictions on the implementation of industrial policies by various countries. For example, some practices that directly support domestic strategic industries are regarded as prohibited subsidies by WTO rules; the protection of domestic strategic industries is also due to The continuous reduction of trade barriers makes it difficult to achieve its due effect. At the same time, the international economic environment has also undergone fundamental changes after the Cold War. As the world's largest market, the United States no longer tolerates other developing countries using industrial policies to support exports, as it did when it supported Japan and South Korea after the war. Therefore, in the context of globalization, the basic strategy for countries to participate in international economic competition has changed from the previous industrial policy to the strategy of open competition. For example, in the face of increasingly fierce international competition in the financial field, on the one hand, developed countries have implemented internal liberalization and deregulation. The United States has changed the financial separation operation system implemented in the 1930s and allowed financial holding companies to engage in mixed operations. operations to enhance the international competitiveness of the country's financial industry; on the other hand, it creates a better investment environment externally to attract investment from foreign financial institutions. In order to prevent the resulting financial risks, financial regulatory agencies have strengthened unified supervision. The United States has transitioned from separate supervision to an "umbrella" regulatory system, and European countries represented by the United Kingdom have established unified financial regulatory agencies. At the same time, financial regulatory authorities in various countries have also paid more attention to international cooperation and worked together to prevent financial crises. ?

Second, the government’s status and role in the policy-making process has changed. In the past, the government was the sole maker of a country's economic systems and policies. However, in the context of economic globalization, the government has changed from the sole rule maker in the past to a co-player in policy formulation, including quasi-governmental organizations such as industry organizations. Institutions and market entities play an increasingly important role in policy formulation.

For another example, in the knowledge economy, talent is the key to the success of countries and enterprises. Developed countries have long formulated immigration policies to attract international talents to maintain their leading position by attracting talents from around the world. When people see capital constantly flowing from developed countries to developing countries, it is not difficult to find that scientific and technological and management talents from developing countries are continuously flowing to developed countries. The mobility of ordinary labor is subject to increasingly strict restrictions. ?

Eighth, we are paying increasing attention to the economic security issues brought about by opening up. Economic globalization is a double-edged sword. While it brings huge new development opportunities to all countries, it also brings increasing risks. Since 1997, large-scale financial crises such as the Asian financial crisis, the Russian financial crisis, the Mexican currency crisis, and the Argentine currency crisis have followed one after another, fully reflecting the financial risks associated with economic globalization. International organizations and governments are increasingly aware of the risks of this openness and have taken effective measures to prevent it. In order to prevent financial risks, on the one hand, more and more countries have abandoned the fixed exchange rate system and adopted a more flexible exchange rate system. On the other hand, we have strengthened the supervision of financial markets, especially the large-scale flows of international "hot money", and have made useful attempts at regional or international cooperation in this regard. ?

In addition to financial risks, opening up will also bring other risks. For example, the impact of opening up the market on the domestic market may lead to the bankruptcy of less competitive domestic enterprises, thus placing higher demands on the social security system. After the Asian financial crisis in 1998, many companies in South Korea went bankrupt, which exposed the shortcomings of South Korea's social security system and forced the South Korean government to increase efforts to improve the social security system.

Ninth, policy implementation: international cooperation is increasingly important. Economic globalization has also made international cooperation increasingly important. A large number of regional and international organizations have emerged. International organizations are becoming more powerful and more complex. These trends themselves reveal the importance of international cooperation. Since the international contagion of financial crises is the most typical, the development of international cooperation among governments to prevent financial crises is also the most eye-catching. Different countries have conducted various cooperation on the supervision of foreign financial institutions. For example, in EU countries, the home country supervises its overseas financial institutions, but the host country does not supervise them. However, there is an increasing amount of information communication between the regulatory authorities of the investment home country and the regulatory authorities of the host country. ?

Although people have recognized the necessity of international cooperation, they have to admit that the degree of internationalization of the market has far exceeded that of international cooperation between governments. When some regional financial crises break out, What people see more is the weakness and slowness of international rescue. Therefore, cooperation at the regional or international level needs to be strengthened. ?

3. The task of transforming the functions of the Chinese government is particularly arduous

Since the late 1970s, the Chinese government has implemented the policy of domestic reform and opening up to the outside world and regarded it as a long-term strategic choices. Due to the implementation of the opening-up strategy, China has rapidly transformed from a basically closed economy to a relatively open economy in the past 20 years. The volume of foreign trade has increased by about 14 times in 20 years, its ranking in world trade has risen from 32nd to 7th, and its trade dependence has risen from less than 10 at the beginning of opening up to 46. More and more areas are open to foreign direct investment, and the amount of foreign investment continues to grow. The cumulative foreign direct investment has reached more than 350 billion US dollars. Since 1993, it has been the developing country that attracts the most foreign direct investment. ?

After 15 years of arduous negotiations, China officially became a member of the World Trade Organization at the end of 2001. Joining the WTO is China's choice to proactively integrate into economic globalization. During the negotiations to join the WTO, the Chinese government made extensive and profound commitments to further opening up its market, especially the service trade market, and to amending domestic laws and regulations in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization. Therefore, as its commitments are fulfilled, China's opening up will enter a new stage, and the Chinese economy will be further integrated into the world economy.

Compared with other countries, the task of transforming the functions of the Chinese government is particularly arduous.

The reasons are:?

First, the transformation of Chinese government functions is relatively lagging behind. Since the implementation of the reform and opening up policy in the late 1970s, we have been continuously adjusting government functions in accordance with the progress of reform and opening up. Compared with the planned economy period, government functions have undergone great changes. However, due to the gradual reform and opening-up strategy implemented by China, the reform process of various departments is not synchronized. If we carefully examine the reform process of different departments in China, it is not difficult to find that opening up to the outside world is always at the forefront. Every time it opens up to the outside world, The major progress has pushed the domestic economic system reform into a new stage, and the deepening of reform has created conditions for further opening up. Generally speaking, there are three "lags": first, domestic system reform lags behind opening up; second, government management system reform lags behind the overall progress of economic system reform; third, the transformation of government functions lags behind government agency reform. The above three "inequality" reveal that the transformation of government functions has lagged far behind opening up to the outside world. After joining the WTO, China's opening up will enter a new stage, and the task of accelerating the transformation of government functions will become even more arduous. ?

Second, the transformation of Chinese government functions must simultaneously meet the dual requirements of globalization and marketization. The vast majority of countries in the world are market economies, and the main goal of transforming government functions in these countries is to meet the requirements of economic globalization. China is a country that is transitioning from a planned economy to a market economic system. Although the overall framework of the market economy has been initially established, the task of market-oriented reform is far from completed. Some key reforms such as state-owned enterprise reform, investment and financing system reform, and domestic unified market The establishment and so on have not yet made breakthrough progress. Therefore, the task of China's reform is still very arduous. At the same time, after joining the WTO, opening up has entered a new stage of "radical" opening. The rapid opening of the market will inevitably bring short-term impacts. Objectively, the government is required to make overall plans in the process of market opening, improve the social security system, and smoothly Complete the structural adjustments brought about by market opening. Moreover, entering the World Trade Organization from a country in transition also requires a lot of work in terms of integrating the domestic economic and trade system with international rules, involving the revision of laws and regulations, institutional reforms and policy adjustments. Generally speaking, after joining the WTO, the transformation of China's government functions needs to meet the dual requirements of marketization and economic globalization. ?

Third, the transformation of government functions must overcome the huge resistance of the original system. The transformation of government functions is the most difficult part of institutional reform. China's reform history of more than 20 years has basically followed the idea of ??decentralization and has made significant progress. However, the positioning of government functions has not been fundamentally changed. Some public service functions required by the market system have not yet been taken over by the government from the "units" in the planning period. With the changes in the functions of "units", in To some extent, there is a shortage of public service providers. On the other hand, the transformation of government functions to adapt to the needs of the market economic system objectively requires the government to further give up its power to intervene in microeconomic life, the most obvious one being the power of examination and approval. However, the widening income gap and social anomie caused by the transition period have induced some government officials to have the wrong idea of ??profit-oriented power, and there are varying degrees of resistance to giving up power. At the same time, some interest groups that emerged during the reform process hope to continue to receive special treatment. Therefore, the transformation of government functions faces huge resistance, and we must be determined to overcome the resistance in order to achieve significant progress.

Fourth, the "dual structure" characteristics of large developing countries have put forward higher requirements for the functions of the Chinese government. China is a large developing country with extremely uneven development. There are huge gaps between the east and west, urban and rural areas, and modern industrial sectors and traditional agricultural sectors. This special national situation puts forward higher requirements for the Chinese government's functions than those of the governments of other developing countries. The transformation of the Chinese government's functions must take into account not only the development requirements of different regions and departments, but also the requirements of participating in the international economic division of labor and building a unified domestic market. Only in this way can China truly give full play to its comparative advantages and maximize its contribution in the process of economic globalization. to obtain the benefits of participating in the international division of labor.

IV. The main challenges facing the transformation of Chinese government functions

The impact of economic globalization on the transformation of Chinese government functions is reflected in the impact of joining the WTO. We can divide this impact into direct impact and indirect impact to examine. ?

(1) The direct impact of joining the WTO on the transformation of Chinese government functions

When China joined the WTO, it made extensive and profound commitments. These commitments can be roughly divided into three categories . One category involves commitments related to market opening. In terms of opening up trade in goods, the main commitments include reducing tariffs, eliminating non-tariff barriers, and eliminating relevant regulations that hinder imports in state-owned trade, customs valuation, etc.; in terms of opening up the service trade market, It has made commitments to open up and stipulated a timetable for the approval principles for foreign capital's commercial presence in China, as well as the gradual relaxation of equity restrictions, business scope restrictions and geographical restrictions. The second category involves China's export commitments after joining the WTO. Some of the commitments in this regard involve the adjustment of China's system. For example, if export subsidies are eliminated, the current methods to support exports must be reformed. However, many commitments do not involve adjustments to the domestic system. For example, within 15 years after China’s accession to the WTO, trading partners will adopt the practice of “third country substitution price” when conducting anti-dumping investigations on Chinese products, and within 12 years, special safeguard clauses will be implemented for Chinese products. . The third category is China’s commitments directly involving institutional aspects to ensure the implementation of the first two categories of commitments. Since China is a country transitioning from a planned economy to a market economy, there are obvious gaps between the current system and the requirements of the WTO in many aspects. Therefore, such commitments cover a wide range of areas, including national treatment, transparency, uniform implementation of the trade system, judicial review, foreign trade rights, import and export licensing procedures, national pricing, implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) ) and the relevant provisions, standards and technical regulations of the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures (TRIMs) and many other aspects.

It can be seen from the above commitments that, except for some of the second type of commitments that do not directly involve domestic system adjustments, most of the commitments actually directly involve the reform and adjustment of China's system. The implementation of these commitments will have a major impact on China's institutional reform:?

First, the government's way of protecting the domestic market is restricted. In the past, China's main means of protecting its domestic market were non-tariff barriers such as high tariffs and quotas. As China promises to significantly reduce tariffs and eliminate non-tariff barriers such as quotas after joining the WTO, traditional protection methods will be greatly restricted and the degree of protection for the domestic market will be greatly reduced. After joining the WTO, China must, on the one hand, cancel the methods of protecting the domestic market that are not allowed by WTO rules. On the other hand, it should also actively explore new and effective ways of protecting the domestic market that are consistent with WTO rules. ?

Second, the way the government supports domestic industries to improve international competitiveness must change. China has long implemented a development strategy that combines import substitution and export orientation. In order to improve the international competitiveness of the industry, we have tried to learn from the experience of some East Asian countries in implementing industrial policies, using the government's protection of the domestic market and direct support for exports as improvements. important means of industrial competitiveness. Among the commitments to join the WTO, on the one hand, the degree of protection of the domestic market will be greatly reduced, and on the other hand, the use of various means such as subsidies will also be restricted. Therefore, the focus of government support to improve the international competitiveness of domestic industries must shift from protecting the market and direct subsidies to improving corporate governance structures, maintaining fair competition, protecting and encouraging technological innovation, and reducing social transaction costs. ?

Third, the government’s foreign-related economic management methods must be adjusted. As a country that has transitioned from a planned economy to a market economy, the Chinese government's approach to economic management still has a deep imprint of the planned economy. For example, the Chinese government still mainly uses the method of issuing internal documents to manage the economy. The relevant regulations are opaque, change frequently, and the predictability of policies is not high. During the negotiations to join the WTO, China promised to publish all laws, regulations and departmental rules related to foreign economic and trade, and those that have not been published will not be enforced.

More importantly, before designing foreign economic and trade laws, regulations and other measures, drafts will be provided to the public and opinions will be allowed. This will not only greatly increase public participation in decision-making, but also make relevant Chinese policies more predictable. In addition, China has also made commitments on judicial review, import and export licensing procedures, etc. This has changed the role of the government in foreign economic management from a simple "manager" in the past to one that places equal emphasis on management and services. At the same time, the ways and means for the government to play its role are also restricted, requiring government personnel to administer in accordance with the law and overcome the arbitrariness of management. ?

Fourth, the government’s foreign economic management institutions must be adjusted. To fulfill China's commitment to join the WTO, some of the original foreign-related economic management functions of the government either no longer exist, such as the review and approval of foreign trade rights; or they have been greatly weakened. For example, there are only a small number of quotas left, and the government's functions of allocating and issuing quotas have been greatly weakened; Given to the market, such as coordinating the export behavior of enterprises, has been handed over to the chamber of commerce. On the other hand, some new foreign-related economic management functions need to be strengthened urgently, such as anti-dumping investigations of foreign imported products and trade negotiations with foreign countries. With the adjustment of the government's foreign-related economic management functions, the government's foreign-related economic management institutional settings must also be adjusted accordingly, and the knowledge and skill requirements for officials will also change accordingly, leading to the renewal of personnel. ?

(2) The indirect impact of joining the WTO on the transformation of the Chinese government’s functions

In accordance with the commitment to join the WTO, China’s laws and regulations should be revised, and the government’s foreign-related economic management functions and institutions should be adjusted. Improving the government's methods of managing foreign-related economic activities and improving the operational efficiency of the foreign-related economic management system are the direct impacts of China's accession to the WTO on institutional reform. However, if China's institutional reform only stays at this level, it will still be far from enough. ?

The indirect impact of China’s accession to the WTO on China’s system is mainly due to two reasons: on the one hand, when fulfilling its commitment to join the WTO, China’s foreign-related economic system must carry out corresponding reforms. If other related economic systems do not When reforms are carried out, many incoordination phenomena will inevitably appear in economic operations. For example, China has promised to ensure the unified implementation of foreign economic and trade policies in the country. If it does not speed up the establishment of a unified domestic market, this promise will be difficult to truly fulfill. Another example is China's promise to implement national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises. This will It is required that we must first implement fair treatment for domestic private enterprises, otherwise, it will be difficult for the market mechanism to truly play its role. On the other hand, joining the WTO means that China will integrate more deeply into the process of economic globalization. The Chinese economy will face more intense international competition. In order to fundamentally improve China's international competitiveness, China must comprehensively improve the competitiveness of its system. , and the transformation of government functions occupies a core position in institutional reform. Therefore, it has become more urgent to comprehensively promote the transformation of government functions. ?

Joining the WTO has put forward new requirements for China's institutional reform in the following aspects: ?

First, it has become more urgent to speed up the improvement of the market economic system. Under the new situation of economic globalization, the only way for a country to win in fierce international competition is to create an attractive investment environment and attract talents, capital, information and other production factors from all over the world to bring together, so as to give full play to its country's competitiveness. Comparative advantages promote rapid economic development. The investment environment is constructed by infrastructure, industrial supporting and service support environments, and institutional environments. As a developing country, China has gaps with the world's advanced level in three aspects. However, comparatively speaking, due to the lag in market-oriented reforms, the gap in the institutional aspect is even greater. Therefore, after joining the WTO, it becomes more urgent to improve the market economic system as soon as possible. This requires China to comprehensively design and establish an efficient socialist market economic system in accordance with the requirements of an open market economy. ?

Second, establish an institutional environment for fair competition and realize a unified domestic market. China's opening up and institutional reform adopt a gradual advancement strategy. The advantage of this strategy is that it ensures a stable transition of the system and avoids excessive impact.

But the cost is that it creates widespread differential treatment among enterprises in different departments, different regions, and different ownerships, which is completely unable to meet the most basic requirements of fair competition in the market economic system. After joining the WTO, China will grant foreign-invested enterprises national treatment in accordance with the principle of national treatment. This will inevitably require China to eliminate all kinds of discrimination against other types of enterprises and create conditions for all types of enterprises to participate in fair competition. In addition, China promises to ensure the unified implementation of economic and trade policies. To this end, it must make great efforts to completely change the current situation of domestic market segmentation and establish a unified domestic market as soon as possible. ?

Third, accelerate the establishment of a risk prevention system for an open economy. Risks in an open economy come from many aspects. According to international experience, the risk prevention system should include the following aspects: First, establish a flexible exchange rate system to maintain a balance of international payments; second, strengthen financial supervision and prevent financial risks; third, establish The anti-subsidy and anti-dumping systems prevent domestic industries from unfair competition from the outside; the fourth is to improve the social security system to prevent the structural adjustments necessary to open the market from turning into social problems. ?

Fourth, there is a more urgent requirement to speed up the reform of the government itself. In the process of establishing and improving the new system of China's socialist market economy, the government, as the initiator and implementer of reform, has always occupied a central position. When China joins the WTO, a series of contradictions caused by the lagging transformation of government functions have become increasingly acute, and accelerating the reform of the government itself has become a more urgent task. ?

Improve government management and improve service levels. China's government management still has a deep imprint of the planned economy, which is reflected in aspects such as "emphasis on management and lightness on services", "emphasis on prior management and lightness on process management", and low transparency of management. When joining the WTO, China promised to implement the principle of transparency in foreign-related economic management. Not only must foreign-related economic regulations be announced, but those that are not announced will not be implemented. More importantly, the procedures for formulating foreign-related economic management regulations must also be transparent, and draft regulations must be announced in advance. , allowing stakeholders to provide input. The implementation of the principle of transparency not only updates previous management concepts, but also introduces new management methods. The new management concepts and methods pioneered in the field of foreign-related economic management will promote the improvement of government management levels. Other fields will inevitably put forward new requirements for the government to improve management and improve service levels, thus comprehensively introducing new concepts and methods of international government management.