Li Yuju: Advancing the Construction of a Unified National Market in Depth
The construction of a national unified large market is a major strategic deployment made by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core from an overall and strategic height. It serves as the foundational support and inherent requirement for building a new development pattern and promoting high-quality development, and is a strategic move concerning the overall and long-term development of the country. On July 1, General Secretary Xi Jinping, while presiding over the sixth meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs, proposed the basic requirements and key tasks for advancing the construction of a national unified large market in depth. This clarified the direction and provided the fundamental compliance for promoting the construction of a national unified large market in a more systematic, profound, and comprehensive manner.
I. Our Party’s theory and practice regarding the construction of a unified large market are characterized by a continuous lineage and advancing with the times.
Marxist political economy holds that social reproduction is a process of cyclic movement through the links of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption. This includes both the economic cycles of various market entities at the micro level and the general circulation of the national economy. Only by establishing a unified large market within the national economic system can we ensure the smooth flow of the economic cycle, thereby continuously expanding social reproduction. The classic discourses of Marxist political economy and Chinese practice provide the theoretical and practical foundations for building a national unified large market.
Regarding the understanding of the market’s status and role. In November 1979, Comrade Deng Xiaoping proposed while meeting with foreign guests that "socialism can also practice a market economy." As reform continued to deepen, our Party successively proposed guiding principles such as a "planned commodity economy" and "combining the planned economy with market regulation." The 14th National Congress of the CPC proposed "letting the market play a foundational role in resource allocation under the macroeconomic control of the socialist state." The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee made a major theoretical innovation, changing the "foundational role" of the market in resource allocation to a "decisive role." This was a new breakthrough in our Party’s understanding of the laws governing the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics, marking a new stage in the development of the socialist market economy. Since then, our Party has emphasized the need to better exert this role institutionally and on a larger and broader scale. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the role of the market, emphasizing that "market-based resource allocation is the most efficient form" and that "in today's world, the most scarce resource is the market."
Regarding what kind of market to build. The Seventh Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China proposed the gradual establishment of a unified socialist market under the management of state policies and plans. The 14th National Congress of the CPC established the reform goal of building a socialist market economy system and proposed "vigorously developing a national unified market." The Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment of a Socialist Market Economy System adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 14th CPC Central Committee proposed "forming a large market that is unified, open, competitive, and orderly." Since the 18th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out many times that "we must give full play to the advantages of the domestic ultra-large-scale market" and "accelerate the construction of a strong domestic market." On March 4, 2020, while presiding over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to study epidemic prevention and control and the stable operation of the economy and society, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "persist in the national chess match" [1] and "maintain the unified large market." On December 17, 2021, while presiding over the 23rd meeting of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that "building a new development pattern urgently requires accelerating the construction of a national unified large market that is efficient, standard-compliant, fair in competition, and fully open; establishing national unified market systems and rules; and promoting the smooth flow of goods and factor resources [2] over a wider scope." The report to the 20th CPC National Congress emphasized "building a national unified large market, deepening the market-oriented reform of factors, and building a high-standard market system." The Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee made comprehensive and systematic deployments for building a national unified large market in the section on building a high-level socialist market economy system.
Regarding how to build a unified large market. In 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the pace of aligning with international markets in terms of market rules, operating mechanisms, and legal systems accelerated. The 16th CPC National Congress proposed "improving the modern market system." The 17th CPC National Congress further pointed out "accelerating the formation of a unified, open, competitive, and orderly modern market system and developing various types of production factor markets." The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee put forward the important judgment that "building a unified, open, competitive, and orderly market system is the basis for letting the market play a decisive role in resource allocation," emphasizing "accelerating the formation of a modern market system in which enterprises operate independently and compete fairly, consumers choose freely and consume autonomously, and goods and factors flow freely and exchange equally." The 19th CPC National Congress proposed "cleaning up and abolishing various regulations and practices that hinder a unified market and fair competition." The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed for the first time the "construction of a high-standard market system." In March 2022, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a National Unified Large Market, clarifying the overall requirements, working principles, main objectives, and six key tasks for the construction of a national unified large market. On July 1, 2025 [3], General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the sixth meeting of the Central Commission for Financial and Economic Affairs and emphasized that "to advance the construction of a national unified large market in depth, the basic requirement is the 'Five Unifications and One Openness' [4]." At present, efforts should focus on solving six key difficult problems, such as low-price disorderly competition among enterprises and chaos in local investment promotion. This signifies that building a unified large market pays more attention to synergetic efforts across points, lines, and planes, as well as timing, intensity, and effectiveness. It also indicates new connotations in work requirements and focal points, elevating our Party's understanding of the construction of a unified large market to a new height.
Looking at the development over the past 40-plus years of reform and opening up, making full use of market resource advantages, deepening the market-oriented reform of factors, and building a high-standard market system constitute an important main line of China's market-oriented reform. Its theoretical logic is of one lineage, and its practical exploration advances with the times. In building a national unified large market, "national" emphasizes integrity, "unified" emphasizes consistency, and "large" emphasizes scale. Efficiency, standardization, fair competition, and full openness are its main characteristics.
II. The construction of a national unified large market has achieved positive results.
Since the 18th CPC National Congress, important progress has been made in the construction of a national unified large market. The "four beams and eight pillars" [5] have been basically established, market scale effects have continuously emerged, foundational systems have been continuously improved, market facilities have accelerated their interconnection, and important steps have been taken in the construction of factor markets. The consensus on building a unified large market has continuously coalesced, the concept of fair competition has become deeply rooted in the minds of the people, and the unity, openness, competitiveness, and orderliness of the market system have been significantly enhanced.
Strengthening strategic planning and top-level design. In recent years, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have intensively issued a series of high-level policy documents related to the construction of a national unified large market. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Improvement of the Socialist Market Economy System in the New Era and the Opinions on Building a More Perfect System and Mechanism for the Market-Oriented Allocation of Factors, clarifying the overall requirements, main objectives, and key tasks. They formulated or revised the Anti-Monopoly Law of the People's Republic of China and the Fair Competition Review Regulations, and issued guiding opinions or action plans centered on building a high-standard market system and establishing a fair competition review system. Generally speaking, these laws, regulations, and policy documents have further strengthened their formulations and expressions, proposed innovative and breakthrough measures, and expanded from local pilots to gradual national coverage. The top-level design of China's market system construction is increasingly perfected, providing a guide for action for the construction of a national unified large market and a high-standard market system.
Accelerating the improvement of market systems and rules. Formulated and implemented the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China and the Promotion of Private Economy Law of the People's Republic of China, and established intellectual property courts in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Issued the Negative List for Market Access (2025 Edition), with the number of items on the list reduced from 117 in the 2022 edition to 106. Organized various regions to clean up various regulations and practices that hinder the construction of a national unified large market and fair competition, focusing on strengthening the fair competition review of institutional norms in the field of bidding and tendering. Prevented and stopped the abuse of administrative power to exclude or restrict competition, and built mechanisms for cross-regional online case investigation, law enforcement assistance, and joint law enforcement. In 2024, the ratio of total social logistics costs to GDP was 14.1%, continuing a downward trend. Since 2023, pilots for domestic and foreign trade integration have been carried out in nine regions, and in 2024, the proportion of domestic and foreign trade integrated operations of industrial enterprises above designated size nationwide reached 17%. The restrictive measures on the national version of the negative list for foreign investment access were reduced to 29 items, and in 2024, the national version and the Pilot Free Trade Zone version of the negative list for cross-border trade in services were released. In manufacturing, restrictions on foreign investment access have been fully lifted; in the service industry, the orderly expansion of opening-up in fields such as telecommunications, internet, education, culture, and medical care is being promoted.
Giving full play to multiple market advantages. China's consumer market has maintained relatively rapid growth and is the world's most attractive large market with the greatest potential. The pull of domestic consumption on economic growth has strengthened, becoming the primary driver of economic growth. Consumption has become the "stabilizer" and "ballast stone" for maintaining steady economic operation. Coordinated use has been made of various types of government funds, a new mechanism for cooperation between government and social capital has been established and implemented, and a long-term mechanism for government investment to support the construction of foundational, public-interest, and long-term major projects has been established. Centering on "efficiently handling a single matter," the approval process for investment projects has been optimized, approval efficiency has been improved, the mechanism for stimulating the investment vitality of social capital and promoting investment realization has been perfected, and a market-led endogenous growth mechanism for effective investment has been formed. A national unified power market system has been initially built, and the China Southern Power Grid has achieved "unified trading and bidding on the same platform" across five provincial-level regions. In 2024, market-based electricity transactions accounted for 63% of the total electricity consumption in society. The National Data Bureau was established to construct a foundational data system, ensuring that data can be "supplied, flowed, and used well." A unified, open, competitive, and orderly, and effectively supervised foreign exchange market has been continuously improved, creating favorable conditions for the efficient allocation of foreign exchange resources and the management of exchange rate risks. Endowment insurance and other systems have been coordinated nationally, achieving institutional unity and mutual assistance between regions. Tracking the "dual carbon" goals [6] is proceeding steadily according to the principles of national coordination, prioritizing conservation, twin-wheel drive, smooth internal and external flow, and risk prevention.
III. Earnestly implementing and detailing the basic requirements of "Five Unifications and One Openness."
At present and for a period in the future, we should adhere to a problem-oriented approach, targeting the bottlenecks and blocking points that hinder the construction of a national unified large market in practice. We must earnestly implement the "Five Unifications and One Openness" requirements and give full play to the powerful support role of China's unified large market in resource aggregation, innovation incentive, industrial upgrading, and economic growth.
Unifying market foundational systems. Foundational market economy systems such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit are the basic guarantees for the effective operation of the socialist market economy. More attention should be paid to protecting property rights and improving the institutional system for equal protection of property rights of various ownership economies according to law. The management model of "one national list" must be strictly implemented to ensure that "entry is permitted unless prohibited" takes root. List adjustment and implementation, as well as post-access comprehensive supervision and performance evaluation, should be steadily carried out to further improve the market access institutional system. The rigid constraints of fair competition review on laws, regulations, and policy measures should be strengthened, and anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition efforts should be further reinforced. A credit system conducive to market unity should be perfected, promoting the inter-departmental and cross-regional sharing and mutual recognition of credit information, increasing joint punishment for dishonest enterprises, and accelerating the improvement of a unified credit repair mechanism.
Unifying market infrastructure. The smooth interconnection of facilities is the foundational condition for a smooth economic cycle. Focusing on networking, filling gaps, and strengthening chains, transportation infrastructure construction should be carried out with moderate anticipation. Cross-regional coordinated layout, cross-modal integrated connection, and cross-sectoral collaborative development of transportation should be promoted to form a unified and open transportation market. Pilots for a modern commercial circulation system should be carried out, connecting the e-commerce and express logistics delivery systems of counties, townships, and villages, and accelerating the digital transformation and upgrading of commercial circulation facilities to effectively reduce logistics costs. The construction of new infrastructure such as 5G networks, data centers, and the industrial internet should be accelerated.
Unifying the scale of government behavior. Currently, the root cause of chaotic behavior by some local governments lies in a distorted view of political performance. We should persist in the "national chess match," further standardize investment promotion behavior, and accelerate the promotion of industry self-discipline and quality upgrading in industries such as new energy vehicles and the photovoltaic industry. We must push investment promotion to shift from "competing on policy dividends" to "competing on service quality" and "competing on industrial ecosystem..."
The transformation must move from seeking "policy troughs" [7] to creating "reform heights." Efforts should be focused on rectifying chaos in government procurement and competitive bidding, strengthening fairness reviews of winning bid results, and promptly exposing negative typical cases. We must further promote consistency assessments between newly issued policies and the orientation of macro policies to ensure highly efficient policy synergy. We should accelerate the improvement of the system for administrative discretion benchmarks in fields such as administrative penalties, standardize the filing, review, and jurisdiction of enterprise-related cases, and resolutely prevent illegal cross-regional law enforcement and profit-driven law enforcement. We must improve the fiscal and tax systems, as well as the statistical accounting system, in a manner conducive to market unity, optimize the division of revenue between the central and local governments, and enhance local autonomous fiscal capacity. The evaluation system for high-quality development should be perfected, with major incidents violating the construction of a unified national market listed as points-deduction or veto items.
Standardize market supervision and law enforcement. Fair and unified market supervision is a powerful guarantee for market operational order and the efficiency of resource allocation. We should strengthen the standardization and normalization of market supervision, disclose supervision standards and rules according to the law, enhance the stability and predictability of market supervision systems and policies, and continuously reduce supervision costs while improving supervision efficacy. We must improve methods such as "double random, one disclosure" supervision [8], credit-based supervision, "Internet + supervision," and cross-departmental collaborative supervision, strengthening the link and coordination between various types of supervision. For fields such as food and drug safety and environmental protection, we must implement the most rigorous standards, the strictest supervision, the severest penalties, and the most serious accountability. For the financial sector, we must comprehensively strengthen institutional supervision, behavioral supervision, functional supervision, "penetrative" supervision [9], and continuous supervision, resolutely investigating and punishing illegal financial activities according to the law. For certain new business formats, we should promote integrated online and offline supervision.
Unify the factor and resource markets. The unification of factor and resource markets plays an important role in better leveraging the advantages of a unified national market to aggregate resources and encourage innovation, thereby releasing developmental potential. We should coordinate incremental construction land with existing construction land, implement unified planning, strengthen unified management, and improve the national unified secondary market for the transfer, lease, and mortgage of construction land-use rights. We must soundly establish a unified and standardized human resources market system to promote the smooth flow of labor and talent across regions. Build a unified medical services market. Accelerate the development of a unified capital market to support the financing needs of small, medium, and micro-enterprises. Soundly establish a multi-level unified electricity market system, promote the improvement of a national unified coal trading market, and facilitate the coordination between "market coal" and "long-term contract coal." Cultivate and develop a national unified ecological and environmental market, and, relying on public resource trading platforms, build national unified markets for carbon emission rights and water rights trading. Promote the unified opening of data markets, establish and improve national technology trading markets, and promote the cultivation of a national integrated data market to release the value of data as a factor of production.
Continuously expand internal and external opening-up. The unified national market is not a closed market operating behind closed doors, but a fully open market facing the world. We should persist in promoting high-level opening-up, proactively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, promote reform through openness, facilitate the efficient connectivity of domestic and international markets, and advance the construction of a unified national market. We must continuously shorten the negative list for foreign investment access and promote the expansion of openness in the field of cross-border service trade. Implement national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises, guarantee fair competition between domestic and foreign enterprises, and ensure that foreign enterprises can enter, stay, and develop well. Implement the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) with high quality, actively promote the process of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA), and continuously expand a network of high-standard free trade zones facing the world. We must focus on promoting the alignment of domestic and foreign systems, the connection of domestic and foreign market channels, the optimization of the integrated development environment, and the strengthening of policy support. We should cultivate a group of high-quality enterprises spanning domestic and foreign trade, further promote "same line, same standard, same quality" [10], build a group of platforms for the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade, smooth the path for converting exports to domestic sales, and continuously improve the level of integrated domestic and foreign trade development for enterprises.
(The author is the Deputy Director of the Xi Jinping Economic Thought Research Center)