The two-day meeting, which concluded Thursday, produced a directive to formulate a National Unified Market Construction Regulation, marking Beijing’s latest legislative effort to eradicate market fragmentation that has hindered competition and resource allocation.
China’s top leadership unveiled plans to formulate unified market regulations at the Central Economic Work Conference this week, part of a broader push to stimulate economic growth by dismantling trade barriers and curbing self-defeating competition among local governments and enterprises.
The two-day meeting, which concluded Thursday, produced a directive to formulate a National Unified Market Construction Regulation, marking Beijing’s latest legislative effort to eradicate market fragmentation that has hindered competition and resource allocation.
The regulation will address what policymakers call wasteful "involutionary-style" competition — a term referring to rivalry among local governments where local protectionist measures favor hometown companies over external competitors. At the business level, it means companies engaging in destructive price wars to cannibalize markets rather than expand them.
Beijing first flagged the regulatory push in September, when the Communist Party committee of the National Development and Reform Commission, or NDRC, called for fast-tracking the legislation to rein in local government behavior and define administrative limits. The committee warned that gaps in China’s current fiscal, taxation and statistical systems are "deep-seated reasons" why fragmentation persists despite repeated attempts to stamp it out.
State Administration for Market Regulation Minister Luo Wen offered clues to the planned revamp in an article earlier this month, saying China will increasingly track statistics based on where business activities actually occur. The change could reduce local governments’ incentive to compete for corporate headquarters simply to inflate their tax and GDP figures.
In October, NDRC official Liu Zhicheng said building a unified national market is a major national strategy essential for countering external risks and gaining initiative in international competition. He explained that the effort means more efficient resource allocation on a broader scale, enhanced economies of scale and agglomeration effects, and a key step in transforming China's market from merely “large” to genuinely “strong.”
All in all, the conference outlined a strategy balancing internal resilience with external engagement. To build a powerful domestic market, policymakers insisted on a “domestic demand-led” approach. This includes new stimulus measures to boost consumption and specific initiatives to raise income levels for both urban and rural residents.
On innovation, Beijing will accelerate talent development and build international tech hubs in Beijing, Shanghai, and the Greater Bay Area spanning Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Authorities will bolster intellectual property protections in emerging sectors while deepening the “AI Plus” initiative, which integrates artificial intelligence across traditional industries.
For the platform economy, officials emphasized “win-win development” among platform companies, merchants, and workers — signaling coordinated growth alongside continued regulatory oversight. The conference called for completing supporting regulations for the Private Economy Promotion Law and accelerating settlement of arrears owed to enterprises, measures seen as crucial for protecting business rights and bolstering corporate confidence.
Externally, China will advance institutional opening-up and to expand liberalization in services sectors “in an orderly manner.” Beijing aims to diversify its trade structure by promoting digital and green exports while fostering new regional and bilateral trade agreements. A key pillar of this outreach remains the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s flagship program to build trade routes and infrastructure connecting Asia, Europe and Africa.
The conference also tasked authorities with drawing up national and local “15th Five-Year Plan” programs in line with the proposal adopted in late October at the Fourth Plenum of the 20th Party Central Committee.
Source: MLex
