BEIJING: China’s accelerated efforts to build a unified national market are right on track.
And, they will not only eliminate domestic market barriers, but also open broader opportunities for foreign investors, as the country deepens market-oriented reforms and high-standard opening-up, experts say.
“Building a unified national market is crucial to smoothing out domestic circulation, said Wang Chenwei, director of the Macroeconomy Research Office at the National Development and Reform Commission’s Economic System and Management Institute.
“It is also critical to fostering a key competitive edge in global cooperation and competition,” he added.
Wang’s comments came after a key meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs last week called for heightened efforts to develop a unified national market.
The meeting highlighted key requirements for developing a unified national market – standardising market rules, infrastructure, government conduct, market regulation and law enforcement, while continuing to expand both domestic and international openness.
China first outlined a detailed set of policy measures in 2022 to develop a unified national market, aimed at ending local protectionism and unifying the fragmented market in order to remove key hurdles to economic growth.
“The accelerated push for building a unified national market means China will become more open, providing more space and opportunities for foreign capital to participate,” said Bai Wenxi, vice-chairman of the China Enterprise Capital Union.
Bai said the latest policy language – shifting from “breaking barriers “to “establishing new systems” – signals a strategic pivot from internal integration towards coordinated development of both internal and external markets.
“It underscores a systemic transformation towards aligning with international high standard rules,” he added.
“It’s a deepening of reforms of the market-based allocation of production factors and promoting regional integration.” — China Daily/ANN
