Forward Word
On April 10, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Accelerating the Construction of a National Unified Market" (Hereinafter referred to as "Opinions") was released, which clearly stated that it is necessary to speed up the establishment of a unified national market system and rules, break local protection and market segmentation, and open up the key blocking point restricting the economic cycle. It is also necessary to accelerate the construction of an efficient, standardized, fair competition, and fully open national unified large market. The release of the "Opinions" marks that China's economic development strategy has officially entered the era of "big domestic demand".
How should we understand the concept of "the unified national market"? What is the background of the formation of the unified market? What exactly does the unified market unify? How to build a unified market? What is the profound significance of building a unified market for China's development? In response to the above problems, the author briefly sorts out the interpretation of the unified market by various domestic authoritative institutions, experts and scholars.
01 The Background of "Unified Big Market"
1History
The "national unified market" is not proposed out of thin air. The promulgation of this document has historical and policy coherence and stability. As early as the Third Plenary Session of the 14th Central Committee held in November 1993, our country proposed for the first time "the establishment of a unified, open, competitive and orderly market". Ten years later, the Third Plenary Session of the 16th Central Committee made further arrangements for accelerating the construction of a unified national market, proposing that "strengthening the unity of the market is an important task in building a modern market system". In November 2013, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee once again proposed to "build a unified, open, competitive and orderly market system". On August 19, 2015, Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council officially used the concept of "Unified Big Market" at the executive meeting of the State Council. It is proposed to resolutely remove all kinds of "roadblocks" that hinder the construction of a "Big Unified National Market", prohibit the abuse of administrative power to restrict or exclude fair competition, prohibit the use of market advantages to charge unreasonable fees or impose unreasonable trading conditions, and reduce the total amount of social circulation cost. After that, the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to clean up and abolish various regulations and practices that hinder the unified market and fair competition.
The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to "build a high-standard market system, improve the fair competition system, and fully implement the market access negative list system". The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to improve the basic system of the market system, adhere to equal access, fair supervision, openness and order, integrity and law-abiding, and form a domestic unified market that is efficient, standardized, and fair competition. On December 17, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the 23rd meeting of the Central Committee for comprehensively deepening reform and emphasized that to build a new development pattern, it is urgent to accelerate the construction of an efficient, standardized, fair competition, and fully open national unified market. The unified market system and rules across the country promote the smooth flow of commodity factor resources on a larger scale.
It can be seen that our understanding and proposal of the "Big National Unified Market" is a process of development, and it is also a process of deepening understanding. Building a unified market is in the same line as the country's long-term development decisions, and it is not an expedient solution.
2Foreign Environment
At present, our country is at a critical stage of building a new development pattern. It needs to further improve productivity, stimulate market vitality, promote the transformation and upgrading of industrial and supply chains, increase opening up, smooth internal circulation, and promote domestic and international dual circulation. This requires the domestic market to have sufficient institutional support, an efficient market connection mechanism, and the full play of the value of resource elements.
At present, the new crown epidemic has repeatedly mutated and spread, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to intensify, and the global economy is facing increasing uncertainty. Western countries led by the United States are accelerating the construction of a "De-Sinicized" global industrial chain and supply chain system based on value alliances, which has led to a more complicated external market situation faced by our country's economic development, and further increased downward pressure on the economy, especially unstable factors. The sustained impact on the economic recovery will bring structural pressure on the economy.
Our country's long-term adoption of an export-oriented development strategy of low-cost competition will inevitably lead to structural imbalances in global trade. The vicious price competition caused by low-cost expansion will not only damage the trade interests of Chinese enterprises, but also easily lead to the prevalence of trade protectionism in developed countries. Especially in the international context of the increasingly intensifying trade friction between China and the United States, the construction of a unified national market will alleviate the excessive dependence of Chinese products on the international market through the transfer of market demand. And this will reduce the pressure of trade protectionism from western developed countries, and hedge the external market risks caused by anti-globalization to the greatest extent.
Therefore, our country urgently needs to shift its economic growth from an external circulation that is highly dependent on the international market to a new development pattern that takes domestic market demand as the main body and unblocks the domestic and international dual circulation.
02 What is a big market
According to the "Opinions", "Unified Large Market" refers to: nationwide, the basic system and rules for building a market are unified, the market facilities are connected at a high standard, the factor and resource market, and the commodity and service market are unified at a high level. The supervision of the market should be fair and unified, and the large market should be further regulated by improper market competition and market intervention. In layman's terms, the "National Unified Big Market" is actually to speed up the establishment of a unified national market system and rules, and to break the local protection and market segmentation through the construction of rules. It is also to break through the key blocking points restricting the economic cycle and promote the smooth flow of commodity factor resources on a larger scale.
To sum up, the national unified market requires the realization of the following five aspects of unification:
1Uniform Institutional Rules
The orderly operation of the market economy requires the support of sound basic market institutions and rules. At present, property rights and credit systems are the cornerstones of a modern market economy, fair competition is the core and soul of a market economy, and a sound market access system is an important foundation for the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation. A unified national market requires a unified system of property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit, creating a safe and predictable market environment for market economy participants, and laying a solid system for the efficient operation of the socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics base.
2Unified Circulation System
Both domestic and international circulation are inseparable from an efficient modern circulation system. A unified circulation system is a powerful guarantee for improving the overall operational efficiency of the national economy. The national unified market requires the circulation system to have the unity of both soft and hard aspects. In terms of hardware, the focus is on the interconnection of circulation infrastructure such as transportation channels and trading platforms. In terms of software, it is mainly the smooth connection of the circulation system between different regions, the effective connection of cross-regional and cross-type circulation platforms, and the continuous improvement of service quality and management level.
3Unified Configuration Elements
The national unified market requires the creation of a unified market for factors and resources. On the one hand, it is necessary to have a system and mechanism that is conducive to the flow of factors across regions, and promote the continuous improvement of the synergy and consistency of the regional factor market. On the other hand, it is necessary to effectively break the regional blockade and market segmentation, and realize the unified and efficient allocation of production factors between urban and rural areas, regions and industries.
4Unified Market for Goods and Services
The national unified market requires a higher level of unification in the market for goods and services. In a unified commodity and service market, all kinds of tangible and intangible barriers to the cross-regional circulation of commodities should be completely removed, all kinds of unreasonable restrictions on foreign enterprises in government procurement and bidding should be thoroughly cleaned up, and consumer rights should be effectively protected.
5 Unified Market Supervision
The national unified market requires the formation of a unified regulatory pattern and the enhancement of collaborative regulatory capabilities. In terms of regulatory rules, the unified large market across the country means that local rules in the fields of quality, standards, measurement, trademarks, patents, inspection and testing are gradually unified, and the level of cross-industry and cross-regional mutual recognition is constantly improving. In terms of administrative law enforcement, the unified national market means that cross-regional law enforcement is more coordinated, law enforcement standards are more consistent, and comprehensive law enforcement and joint law enforcement are more efficient.
03 What key points should be paid attention to in building a unified large market
1Handle Three Relationships
1. "Big" Market and "Strong" Market
Today, our country not only has the obvious advantages of a super-large scale and an overall market, but also in the future will make the construction of a super-scale domestic market a sustainable historical process. In terms of market platform facilities, factors, and resource markets, we will promote the construction of national market unity with high standards and high levels.
Secondly, on the basis of the large market, we must build a strong market, realize a dynamic balance between the supply and demand of the national economy at a higher level and become a strong engine for high-quality economic development.
A strong market is not only a market with a larger scale and scope, but more importantly, a better structure and form, then the quality of the market development will be higher, and the institutional rules will be more complete. It is more influential and attractive than such a modern market cycle system.
From the perspective of smooth domestic circulation, it is necessary to build a unified national market. It is necessary to strictly implement the "one national list" management model, improve the unified social credit system and other measures. It is necessary to solve outstanding problems such as improper intervention and hidden barriers and thresholds in key areas and key links, and comprehensively break through the blocking points that restrict the domestic cycle.
From the perspective of smooth domestic and international dual circulation, the construction of a unified market can promote better connectivity between domestic and international markets, and promote the integration of domestic and foreign market rules and standards. It is conducive to strongly attracting overseas medium and high-end factor resources to gather inwards with the unified large domestic market as the "core", thus providing basic support for accelerating the construction of a new development pattern.
The unification of the unified large market is not uniform, but on the premise of maintaining the national unified large market, combined with the implementation of major regional strategies and regional coordinated development strategies, giving priority to the construction of regional market integration. The national unified market is not a "monolithic" unified market. Building a unified national market is not to disregard regional differences and ignore economic laws to "one size fits all" in all fields, but to allow localities to give full play to their comparative advantages and carry out differentiated competition.
2Grasping the Five Key Points
The whole set of system design and practice paths put forward in the "Opinions" is highly systematic, complete and operable. "Opinions" is highly to strive to give priority to the promotion of reform measures that truly reflect the reform intention and can play a practical effect, to fully gather the consensus of the whole society, and move forward with concerted efforts.
On the one hand, the "Opinions" focus on "establishment", which is to strengthen the unity of market regulation and supervision and law enforcement, and clarify the goals and tasks of establishing rules and regulations; On the other hand, "breaking" is aimed at market monopoly and unfair competition, local protection and regional barriers , practices that impede equal access and exit in accordance with the law. It is a practice that violates the regulations of the unified market in the field of bidding and procurement. On the basis of comprehensively sorting out the relevant regulations, the "Opinions" proposes to dynamically publish a list of issues that improperly interfere with the construction of a unified national market in accordance with the law. It is to establish a typical case notification, interview and problem rectification system, especially to continuously strengthen the work of removing hidden barriers, to ensure that relevant measures can be implemented, implemented, and effective.
On the one hand, it is necessary to realize that the real market power is endogenous, and the key lies in strengthening the decisive role of the market in allocating resources. The real market is to cultivate and stimulate the vitality of the majority of market entities, and to promote the construction of a high-standard market system from the inside out through the high-quality development of market entities. The "Opinions" attaches great importance to the unblocked channels for market entities and the public to reflect their demands, so as to make market entities have a more sense of gain and enthusiasm. On the other hand, accelerating the construction of a unified national market is inseparable from the government's establishment of regulations and "escort". The government's "promising" is reflected in speeding up the completion of the "hard and weak links" of market facilities and the "soft shortcomings" of rules. It clarifies the requirements for phased goals and strengthens the stability and predictability of unified rules and policies. It fully activates various element resources and provides "source of living water" for market development and structural optimization.
All localities and departments should improve their positions, focus on the overall situation, obey the overall situation, give full play to the advantages of playing a game of chess nationwide and concentrating on major affairs, and correctly understand and grasp the important determination of the domestic cycle of building a unified national market in the new development pattern. They must resolutely get rid of the misunderstanding and practice of "separation of princes" between regions and separate local small cycles, and open up the economic cycle between different regional spaces such as "blocks", "province", "city" and "urban-rural". At the same time, giving priority to regional cooperation will also create favorable conditions for accelerating the construction of a unified large market. The "Opinions" require that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area should be encouraged to be implemented in combination with major regional strategies and coordinated regional development strategies,as well as the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle and the urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Under the premise of maintaining a unified national market, it is necessary to accelerate the integration of regional markets, and actively summarize and replicate successful experience in promotion.
4. Co-construction, sharing, optimization and upgrading, and promoting high-standard connectivity of market facilities
Objectively speaking, compared with our country's vision of accelerating the construction of a large smart consumer market, the new facility network has yet to be expanded and increased in efficiency; in order to seek an international market influence commensurate with the size of a large country, there is still a lack of domestically-influential companies. trading platform. To this end, the "Opinions" emphasize the need to build a modern distribution network, to improve market information exchange channels, and promote the optimization and upgrading of trading platforms, including accelerating digital construction and promoting the integration of online and offline development. It also emphasized the need to form more new platforms, new formats and new models of business circulation, and cultivate a group of digital platform companies and supply chain companies with global influence. It also emphasized the need to optimize important information release channels such as industry announcements and publicity, and promote the exchange and sharing of market public information in various fields. Emphasis is placed on accelerating the electronicization of the whole process of public resource transactions, and promoting practical measures such as digital transformation and intelligent upgrading of commodity markets.
5. Fair competition, Quality first, and Promoting high-level unification of factor resources, commodities and service markets
At present, the problems that the majority of market players reflect strongly include platform monopoly restricting competition, invasion of personal privacy, lack of clear standards for intelligence and other practical problems. The "Opinions" to strengthen anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition is the deployment of timely response to social concerns and practical solutions to the pain points in economic operation. At the same time, it is required to improve the product quality classification system, extensively carry out the upgrading of the quality management system, and strengthen the management of the whole supply chain, the whole industry chain and the whole product life cycle. The "Opinions" also emphasize the need to carry out in-depth artificial intelligence social experiments, promote the formulation of relevant standards for intelligent social governance, unify standards in areas such as smart home and security, and explore the establishment of a smart device identification system while focusing on the needs of emerging key areas. Breakthroughs in a number of key measurement technologies and development of a number of emerging reference materials fully reflect the innovative and forward-looking nature of the “Opinions”.
04 Significance of building a unified big market
Our country's domestic market scale has already ranked among the top in the world, the commodity market has obvious advantages in scale, and the market scale of capital, technology, data and other factors is rapidly expanding. However, there are still some problems, such as prominent market segmentation and local protection, insufficient market competition, lagging factor market development, low market operation efficiency, and need for innovation in regulatory methods. Therefore, we must accelerate the construction of a unified national market to promote competition, deepen the division of labor, improve efficiency, and improve supervision, so as to promote the transformation of our country's market from large to strong.
The key to building a new development pattern is the unimpeded economic cycle. It is to speed up the construction of a unified national market,to break through the key blocking points that restrict the economic cycle, to break local protection and market segmentation, to promote the smooth flow of commodity factor resources in a wider range, and continuously enhance our country's market advantages, in order to effectively attract global high-end factors and market resources, better connect domestic and international markets, and provide strong support for building a new development pattern.
3. Building a unified national market is an inevitable choice for building a high-level socialist market economic system
The institutional rules for the operation of the unified market are the institutional basis for building a unified national market, and it is also the proper meaning of building a high-level socialist market economic system. Starting from the institutional rules to build a unified national market, improving the uniformity of the system, the consistency of the rules, and the coordination of implementation will lay a more solid foundation for the construction of a high-standard market system and a high-level socialist market economic system.
By guiding the effective allocation of innovation resources by unifying the large market demand, it will promote the orderly flow and reasonable aggregation of innovation elements on a larger scale. Supporting scientific and technological innovation and the development of related industries, promoting the transformation and application of major scientific and technological achievements, and improving the modernization level of the industrial chain and supply chain can transform our country's super-large-scale market resource endowment advantages into strong competitiveness,can promote the realization of high-level self-reliance and self-improvement, and firmly grasp the future development initiative.
On the basis of establishing a unified domestic market and consolidating domestic circulation, accelerating the construction of a fully open national unified market will not only facilitate better connectivity between the domestic market and the international market, but also promote the free, orderly, safe and convenient flow of factors across borders. The strong gravitational field for global advanced resource elements is also conducive to improving the voice in international economic governance and gaining new advantages in international competition and cooperation.
By accelerating the construction of a unified national market, we can create more market demand by improving the quality of supply, release greater consumption potential by optimizing the market environment, open up a wider circulation space by opening up blocking points, and create a more transparent business environment with fair and just supervision, which will help stabilize market expectations, promote a smooth economic cycle, and promote sustainable and healthy economic development.
Epilogue
The national unified market does not mean "one size fits all", nor is it directly equated with egalitarianism, nor does it mean returning to the era of planned economy. Building a unified national market must be based on following the objective laws of economic development, promoting the free flow of production factors on a larger scale and improving the efficiency of resource allocation. This is crucial to achieving high-quality common development and common prosperity. The whole country must work together to build a unified market and fully unblock the domestic circulation, which will provide strong support for the construction of a high-standard market system and a high-level socialist market economic system, thus effectively demonstrating the superiority of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics.
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