Unified national market tops agenda

China will take more measures, such as pushing for further easing of market access in new fields, to accelerate the building of a unified national market, officials said on Tuesday.

Li Chunlin, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the accelerated construction of a unified national market has played a positive role in stabilizing expectations.

"The move actively promotes smooth domestic circulation, stimulates market vitality, cuts transaction costs, unleashes domestic demand potential and consolidates the foundation for the positive rebound of the economy," Li said.

He said at a news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday that the country will make more efforts to improve the top-level design of the market access system and promote construction of a new market access system that is open, transparent, standardized, orderly and ensures a level playing field.

Li added that the country has made concrete progress in building a unified national market in terms of addressing prominent issues related to local protectionism and market segmentation as well as promoting reforms in key areas. For instance, implementation plans for fiscal system reforms have been issued in some provinces, contributing to the establishment of a more rational allocation of powers and responsibilities in fiscal systems below the provincial level.

In the next step, the country will formulate standards and guidelines for the construction of a unified national market, and accelerate the promulgation of the social credit law and regulations on fair competition review. And it will support phased trans-regional relocation of industries from eastern to central and western regions, facilitate market-oriented allocation of land resources and steadily advance reforms in key areas such as finance and taxation, Li said.

During the news briefing, Li Liejun, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said China's ultra-large domestic market provides strong support for advancing new industrialization, and the smooth flow of goods and factors is an inherent requirement for promoting such industrialization. The focus will be placed on promoting smooth circulation of the national economy via improving the quality of the manufacturing supply system, guiding industrial transfer and manufacturing cluster development, as well as deepening market-oriented reforms of production factors.

He said data have become another crucial production factor following land, capital and technology, adding that deepening market-oriented reforms of data factors will be conducive to advancing construction of a nationwide unified large market.

"There is a need to not only promote the efficient circulation and market-oriented allocation of data, but also harness the role of data elements to better empower industrial development."

Zhao Chunlei, an official with the State Administration for Market Regulation, highlighted the importance of breaking local protectionism and administrative monopolies.

Since the beginning of this year, various regions and departments have revised or abolished 17,600 policy measures that hinder the building of a unified national market and fair competition.

In the next step, Zhao said the administration will actively cooperate with relevant departments to solicit opinions and suggestions from various parties, and further refine the content of the regulation on fair competition review. And it will make more moves to expedite the legislative process, striving to have the regulations promulgated as soon as possible.