宁向东认为,要想准确把握新经济时代的基本特征,单靠比较优势的概念和思考方式是不行的,为此,要用新的“国家竞争优势”理论来重新规划我们的经济战略。“国家竞争优势”是指一国在参与国际竞争的过程中,要从全局的角度,根据一国范围内可以调度的资源,并以最终在国际市场上确立本国产品市场占有率为目的的竞争能力。这一新的概念意味着对发展中国家来说,国际竞争已不仅仅是单独的企业行为,而是涉及到整个国家方方面面的行为, Ning Xiangdong thinks that in order to accurately grasp the basic characteristics of the new economic era, it is impossible to rely solely on the concepts and thinking modes of comparative advantages. To this end, we must re-plan our economic strategy with a new “national competitive advantage” theory. “National competitive advantage” refers to the competition of a country in the process of participating in international competition from the perspective of the whole country, according to the resources within a country that can be scheduled and finally establishing the market share of its products in the international market ability. This new concept means that for developing countries, international competition has become more than just a single business activity but has involved all aspects of the country as a whole.