In the post-COVID-19 era, China and the European Union,given the complex global economic situation, need to deepen economic and trade cooperation to not only promote economic growth in China and the EU, but also help global economic recovery and develop a new global growth pattern.

China also needs to advance high-level opening-up to support the “dual circulation” development pattern. “Dual circulation”,which is centered on the domestic economy (or “internal circulation”) and aimed at integrating the domestic economy with the global economy (or “external circulation”) in a bid to develop new advantages for China in global cooperation and competition, is part of China’s economic upgrading and transformation.

China is making tremendous efforts to integrate domestic and global market rules and standards, so the domestic market can better adapt to the changes in the international market and its internal and external circulations further integrate.

High-level opening-up and “dual circulation” will create a bigger space for Sino-EU economic cooperation, especially because rising Chinese consumption has become an important facilitator of Sino-EU economic cooperation. In the next five to ten years,China’s service consumption is expected to increase 10 to 15 percent.

China’s huge service consumption potential is to the advantage of the EU, as it can provide such services as R&D, finance, medical care and vocational education.

Also, the rapid growth of China’s digital economy has boosted Sino-EU economic cooperation. Estimates show China’s digital trade will soar to 37 trillion yuan in 2030, that is, 11 times the current volume. If China and the EU forge a digital partnership,mutually expediting the opening up of their digital sectors and jointly working to build a global mechanism to promote digital economy, they would not only further deepen cooperation but also develop a new driver of global growth.

To sum up, since high-level opening-up and “dual circulation”are good for China-EU economic and trade cooperation, China and the EU should jointly initiate free trade in services, including information and communications technology, education, healthcare,culture, and environmental protection; and forge new platforms for economic cooperation.

The author is president of China Institute for Reform and Development.