Vigorously develop third-party logistics! The “Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating the Building of a Unified National Market” have been released.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China The State Council’s Opinions on Accelerating the Development of a Unified National Market (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”) were released on the 10th.

Key Statements in the “Opinions”

Strictly implement Under the “National Single List” management model, all regions and departments are strictly prohibited from independently issuing negative lists with market‑access implications, thereby safeguarding the uniformity, rigor, and authority of the market‑access negative list system.

Vigorously develop third-party logistics, support the establishment of digital third-party logistics delivery platforms, promote technological and business-model innovation in the third-party logistics sector, cultivate a group of globally influential digital platform enterprises and supply-chain firms, and drive cost reduction and efficiency gains across the entire society.
Encourage trading platforms to collaborate with financial institutions and intermediary agencies to develop, in accordance with the law, a comprehensive service system covering property rights delineation, price appraisal, guarantees, insurance, and other related services.
Select regional equity markets that demonstrate robust compliance standards and strong risk-management capabilities to conduct pilot programs for institutional and business innovation, and strengthen cooperation and coordination between regional equity markets and the national securities market.

Strengthen oversight of the capital markets, improve the regulatory framework to ensure clear rights and responsibilities, well-defined divisions of labor, and smooth operations, and firmly establish a safety net to prevent systemic financial risks.

Improve the oil and gas futures product system, standardize the development of oil and gas trading centers, and optimize the spatial layout of key infrastructure such as trading venues and delivery warehouses. Promote interconnection and interoperability of oil and gas pipeline networks and ensure their fair access to all market participants.

For key areas such as food and drug safety—issues that directly affect public health and life safety—ensure the implementation of the strictest standards, the most rigorous oversight, the harshest penalties, and the most serious accountability.

Strengthen the review of concentrations of undertakings in sectors such as finance, media, technology, and people’s livelihoods, as well as in industries involving start-ups, new business models, and labor-intensive sectors; enhance the quality and efficiency of these reviews; and reinforce the identification, early warning, and prevention of monopoly risks.

Guide each region to clearly define its own functional positioning, resolutely avoid pursuing excessive scale and foreign‑style projects, low‑level redundant construction, and overly homogeneous competition, and refrain from… The “small but self-contained” closed-loop model must not, under the guise of an “internal circulation,” be used to impose regional blockades.

Except as expressly provided by laws and regulations, enterprises shall not be required to register in a specific location, nor shall any obstacles be imposed on their cross‑regional operations or relocation.

Important Notice: Vigorously develop third-party logistics and foster a group of globally influential enterprises.

With regard to advancing the high-standard interconnectivity of market infrastructure, the Opinions propose building a modern circulation network, improving market information exchange channels, and promoting the optimization and upgrading of trading platforms.

In building a modern circulation network, we will advance the development of a national logistics hub network, vigorously promote multimodal transport, and popularize the standardized pallet‑based transportation model. We will also robustly develop third‑party logistics, support the establishment of digital third‑party logistics delivery platforms, drive technological and business‑model innovation in the third‑party logistics sector, cultivate a group of globally influential digital platform and supply chain enterprises, and thereby enhance cost efficiency and productivity across the entire society.

To enhance market information‑exchange channels, a unified mechanism for publishing property‑rights transaction information will be established, enabling nationwide connectivity among property‑rights trading markets. Key information‑dissemination channels, such as industry announcements and public notices, will be streamlined to promote the seamless sharing of public market information across all sectors.

In advancing the optimization and upgrading of trading platforms, we will accelerate the full-process digitalization of public resource transactions. We will also expedite the development of both futures and spot markets for bulk commodities. Furthermore, we will encourage trading platforms to collaborate with financial institutions and intermediary agencies to legally establish comprehensive service systems that encompass property rights delineation, price appraisal, guarantees, insurance, and other related services.

Let’s hear again what the responsible officials of the National Development and Reform Commission have to say.

The Main Background to the Issuance of the “Opinions”

In today’s world, the most scarce resource is the market. The Party Central Committee attaches great importance to building a unified national market. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee stated that establishing a unified, open market system characterized by orderly competition is the foundation for enabling the market to play a decisive role in resource allocation. The 19th National Congress of the CPC called for abolishing all regulations and practices that impede the development of a unified market and fair competition. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee proposed building a high-standard market system, improving the fair‑competition regime, and fully implementing the negative list system for market access. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee emphasized the need to improve the fundamental institutions of the market system, uphold equal access, impartial regulation, openness and orderliness, and integrity and lawfulness, thereby fostering an efficient, standardized, and fairly competitive domestic unified market. On December 17, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping presided over the 23rd meeting of the Central Commission for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, where he emphasized that, in building the new development paradigm, it is urgently necessary to accelerate the development of a nationwide unified market that is efficient and well‑regulated, fosters fair competition, and is fully open; to establish uniform national market rules and institutional frameworks; and to facilitate the smooth flow of goods, factors of production, and resources across a broader scope.

In recent years, significant progress has been made in building a unified national market. The scale‑effect of this unified market has continued to emerge, foundational institutions have been steadily improved, market infrastructure has been accelerated, and substantial strides have been taken in developing factor markets. A growing consensus on the importance of constructing a unified national market has taken root, and the principle of fair competition has gained widespread acceptance. Nevertheless, it is also important to recognize that certain obstacles to the development of a unified national market persist in practice: market fragmentation and local protectionism remain pronounced; the development of factor and resource markets remains incomplete; the quality‑assurance system for goods and services is still inadequate; regulatory rules, standards, and procedures are not yet harmonized; and the role of an ultra‑large‑scale market in driving technological innovation and industrial upgrading has yet to be fully realized. To implement the strategic plan for fostering a new development paradigm, it is imperative to accelerate the construction of a unified national market and ensure the smooth functioning of the national economic circulation.

The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have issued implementation guidelines that, from a holistic and strategic perspective, clearly set out the overarching requirements, key objectives, and priority tasks for accelerating the development of a unified national market. These guidelines provide an action plan for building such a market in the period ahead and will undoubtedly exert a significant impact on deepening reform and opening-up under the new circumstances, enabling China to better leverage, consolidate, and strengthen its substantial market‑based advantages, and comprehensively advance the transformation of China’s market from large to strong.

The issuance of the “Opinions” holds significant importance for advancing high-quality development and establishing a new development paradigm.

Building a unified national market is both a foundational pillar and an intrinsic requirement for forging a new development paradigm.

First, accelerating the development of a unified national market is a foundational pillar for forging a new development paradigm. Building a new development paradigm necessarily hinges on establishing a unified national market. Only when the domestic market is efficiently interconnected—bridging the pathway from enhanced market efficiency to higher labor productivity, increased household incomes, a stronger business sector, improved supply quality, and optimized, upgraded demand—can we foster a virtuous cycle of mutually reinforcing supply and demand and coordinated progress in production and sales. This will expand the scale and capacity of the market, leverage its advantages in fostering competition and deepening division of labor, and ultimately give rise to a robust domestic market.

Second, accelerating the development of a unified national market is an intrinsic requirement for establishing a high-standard socialist market economy. A high‑level socialist market economy necessarily calls for the development of a high‑standard market system, which, above all, should be a unified national market that is efficient and well‑regulated, fosters fair competition, and is fully open. Compared with the requirements for promoting high‑quality economic development, China still lags behind in areas such as its fundamental market institutions, the degree of connectivity among market infrastructure, the efficiency of factor‑allocation, and the level of regulatory modernization. Accelerating the construction of an ultra‑large, domestically unified market will enable higher‑level division of labor and collaboration, drive high‑quality economic growth, and lay a solid foundation for a high‑level socialist market economy.

Third, accelerating the development of a unified national market is a practical necessity for achieving scientific and technological self-reliance and advancing industrial upgrading. By leveraging the unified demand of the domestic market to guide the efficient allocation of innovation resources, we can facilitate the orderly flow and rational concentration of innovation factors across a broader scope, support the development of scientific and technological innovation and related industries, promote the commercialization and application of major scientific and technological breakthroughs, and enhance the modernization of industrial and supply chains. In doing so, we can transform China’s super‑large‑scale market advantages into robust competitive strengths, advance high‑level self-reliance and self‑strengthening, and firmly secure the initiative in future development.

Fourth, accelerating the development of a unified national market is an important foundation for participating in international competition. Building on the foundation of a unified domestic market and a robust domestic circulation, accelerating the development of a fully open national unified market will not only facilitate better connectivity between domestic and international markets, promote the free, orderly, secure, and convenient cross-border flow of production factors, and create a powerful gravitational pull for advanced global resources and capabilities, but will also enhance China’s voice in global economic governance and enable it to gain new competitive advantages in international cooperation and competition.

Fifth, accelerating the development of a unified national market is an important measure for unlocking market potential, stimulating growth momentum, and ensuring the steady operation of the economy. By accelerating the development of a unified national market, we can enhance supply quality to generate greater market demand, optimize the market environment to unlock substantial consumption potential, remove bottlenecks and obstacles to expand broader channels for circulation, and foster a more transparent business climate through fair and impartial regulation. These measures will help stabilize market expectations, ensure smoother economic cycles, and promote sustained, healthy economic growth.

Overall requirements, working principles, and main objectives for advancing the development of a unified national market

The Opinions emphasize the need to accelerate the establishment of a unified national market system and rules, dismantle local protectionism and market fragmentation, unblock key bottlenecks hindering economic circulation, and facilitate the smooth flow of goods, factors of production, and resources across a broader scope, thereby speeding up the development of a nationwide unified large market that is efficient and well‑regulated, features fair competition, and is fully open.

In terms of working principles, First, we will focus on domestic demand and ensure smooth circulation. By creating and leading demand through high-quality supply, we will ensure smoother operations across the production, distribution, circulation, and consumption stages. Second, we will simultaneously establish and dismantle, and improve the institutional framework. From the perspective of institutional development, we will clearly define phased objectives and requirements and advance the building of a unified market in a step-by-step manner. We will accelerate the review and repeal of all regulations and practices that impede the establishment of a unified market and fair competition. Third, an efficient market and a proactive government. Fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation, while enhancing the government’s role, to harness a unified national market for pooling resources, driving growth, fostering innovation, optimizing division of labor, and promoting competition. Fourth, ensure systemic coordination and advance the initiative in a prudent and steady manner. Scientifically manage the sequencing and pace of development across market size, structure, organization, spatial distribution, environmental considerations, and institutional framework building; uphold the principle of combining deregulation with effective regulation, and give equal weight to both, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of government oversight.

In terms of the main objectives, First, Continuously promote the efficient and smooth functioning of the domestic market and its expansion in scale. Second, Accelerate the creation of a business environment that is stable, fair, transparent, and predictable. Third is Further reduce market transaction costs. Fourth, promote scientific and technological innovation and industrial upgrading. Fifth, cultivate new competitive and cooperative advantages in international markets.

Key tasks of the “Opinions” in advancing the development of a unified national market

The Opinions adhere to a problem-oriented approach and adopt both a constructive and a critical stance, clearly outlining key tasks for building a unified national market across six areas.

From the perspective of establishment, the “Opinions” clearly stipulate that… Grasp well “Five Unifications” First, we will strengthen the uniformity of fundamental market institutions and rules, advance the improvement of a unified property‑rights protection system, implement a unified market access regime, uphold a fair‑competition framework, and refine a cohesive social credit system. Second, we will promote high‑standard connectivity of market infrastructure, leveraging upgrades to distribution networks, seamless information exchange, and enhanced platform functionalities to boost market efficiency. Third, we will build a unified market for factors of production and resources, working to establish robust, integrated markets for land and labor, capital, technology and data, energy, and the ecological environment. Fourth, we will pursue a high‑level degree of uniformity in the markets for goods and services, focusing on areas of particular concern to the public and market entities, and striving to improve quality and standards systems. Fifth, we will ensure fairness and uniformity in market regulation, safeguarding regulatory stability and predictability while enhancing regulatory effectiveness.

From the perspective of breaking down barriers, it is made clear that further efforts are needed to regulate unfair market competition and market intervention. The Opinions lay out specific measures in five key areas: strengthening antitrust enforcement; investigating and prosecuting unfair competitive practices in accordance with the law; dismantling local protectionism and regional barriers; abolishing regulations and practices that impede equal access to and exit from the market; and continuously reviewing and eliminating provisions and practices in the procurement sector that undermine the development of a unified national market. These measures aim to remove both overt and covert obstacles that hinder the establishment of a nationwide unified market.

How can we ensure that the “Opinions” are effectively implemented and yield tangible results?

First, establish a working mechanism. The National Development and Reform Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation, in coordination with relevant departments, will establish and improve a departmental coordination mechanism to promote the development of a unified national market, strengthen overall planning and coordination, and conduct timely supervision and inspection. They will also enhance monitoring, analysis, and coordinated guidance to effectively address related issues, and promptly report major matters to the CPC Central Committee and the State Council.

Second, we will focus on key tasks. Focusing on six key areas of reform and prioritizing institutional development, we will set clear, phased objectives, address pressing issues head-on, and ensure that reform measures are swiftly implemented and yield tangible results.

Third, we will improve the incentive and constraint mechanisms. Explore and develop a set of standards and guidelines for building a unified national market. Provide incentives to regions that actively promote and effectively implement the construction of a unified national market. Dynamically publish a list of issues involving improper interference in the development of the unified national market, with a focus on addressing inappropriate market interventions and unfair competitive practices that hinder the establishment of such a market.

Fourth, we will pool the strengths of all parties. Promote all regions and relevant departments to pool their efforts around key tasks. Strengthen publicity and guidance to foster a favorable social environment for the development of a unified national market.