Consolidating the Legal Foundation for a Unified National Market

Building a unified national market is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core from an overall and strategic perspective. From the promulgation of the *Regulations on Fair Competition Review* and the release of the *Guidelines for the Construction of a Unified National Market (Trial)*, to the issuance of the *Opinions on Improving the Social Credit System* and the *Negative List for Market Access (2025 Edition)*, the legal foundation for building a unified national market has become more solid, and the effectiveness of the rule of law in supporting the construction of a unified national market has become more prominent.

构建全国统一大市场，是以习近平同志为核心的党中央从全局和战略高度作出的重大决策。从颁布《公平竞争审查条例》、发布《全国统一大市场建设指引（试行）》，到印发《关于健全社会信用体系的意见》《市场准入负面清单（2025年版）》，建设全国统一大市场的法治基础更加坚实，法治助力全国统一大市场建设成效更加凸显。

Since the New Era, market-based basic institutions have been continuously improved, market facilities have been accelerated in connectivity, important steps have been taken in the construction of factor markets, the scale effect of the commodity and service markets has gradually emerged, and the concept of fair competition has taken root in people's hearts. However, it must also be recognized that advancing the construction of a unified national market still faces some problems, such as the need to further straighten out the relationship between the government and the market, room for improvement in basic institutions, and the need to improve factor market systems and rules. The recently held Sixth Meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs [1]1 The Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs is a leading body of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party responsible for economic policy. Its meetings set major directions for economic work. clarified the basic requirements for deepening the construction of a unified national market as "five unifications and one opening up," namely, unifying basic market institutions, unifying market infrastructure, unifying the scale of government action, unifying market regulation and law enforcement, and unifying factor resource markets, while continuously expanding opening up both internally and externally. For the current period and the future, it is necessary to focus on key and difficult points, follow the latest deployment requirements, and fully leverage the guiding, regulating, and safeguarding role of the rule of law to promote the deepening of the construction of a unified national market.

新时代以来，市场基础制度不断完善，市场设施加快联通，要素市场建设迈出重要步伐，商品和服务市场规模效应逐步显现，公平竞争理念深入人心。但也要看到，推进全国统一大市场建设仍面临一些问题，如政府与市场的关系尚需进一步理顺、基础制度仍有完善空间、要素市场制度和规则还需健全等。近期召开的中央财经委员会第六次会议明确了纵深推进全国统一大市场建设基本要求是“五统一、一开放”，即统一市场基础制度、统一市场基础设施、统一政府行为尺度、统一市场监管执法、统一要素资源市场，持续扩大对内对外开放。当前及未来一个时期，需聚焦重点难点，按照最新部署要求，充分发挥法治的引领、规范及保障作用，推动全国统一大市场建设向纵深推进。

Clarifying the Boundary Between the Government and the Market

厘清政府与市场的边界

Building a unified national market must properly handle the relationship between the government and the market. The Sixth Meeting of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs put forward the requirements of "unifying the scale of government action" and "unifying market regulation and law enforcement," highlighting the importance of this issue. Market allocation of resources is the most efficient form, but market regulation also has the possibility of failure, giving rise to phenomena such as information asymmetry, speculation, and unfair competition. Only by giving full play to the decisive role of the market in resource allocation and better playing the role of the government, compensating for the deficiencies of market regulation through macro-control, market regulation, public services, and other means, can the optimization of resource allocation efficiency and the maximization of benefits be achieved. Currently, some localities engage in discriminatory treatment against non-local enterprises in bidding under the guise of technical standards, and local protectionism still exists; some localities have inconsistent regulatory and law enforcement standards and requirements, with phenomena such as illegal cross-regional law enforcement and profit-driven law enforcement. These problems must be promptly rectified and standardized.

建设全国统一大市场必须处理好政府与市场的关系。中央财经委员会第六次会议提出“统一政府行为尺度”“统一市场监管执法”的要求，凸显了这一问题的重要性。市场配置资源是最有效率的形式，但市场调节也存在失灵的可能，会出现信息不对称、投机、不正当竞争等现象。只有充分发挥市场在资源配置中的决定性作用，更好发挥政府作用，通过宏观调控、市场监管、公共服务等手段弥补市场调节的不足，才能实现资源配置效率最优化和效益最大化。当前，有的地方在招标中以技术标准等名义对非本地企业搞区别对待，地方保护主义依然存在；有的地方监管执法标准、要求不统一，存在违规异地执法、趋利性执法等现象。这些问题必须及时整治和规范。

To promote a better combination of an effective market and a competent government, the boundary between the government and the market should be demarcated by the rule of law. For things the market can do well, the government resolutely refrains from interfering; the government focuses on managing things the market cannot manage or manages poorly, placing government actions under a unified standard of law and institutions. Specifically, in the process of deepening the construction of a unified national market, the *Regulations on Fair Competition Review* must be strictly implemented, the rigid constraints of fair competition review must be strengthened, working mechanisms such as spot checks, reporting and handling, and joint review of major policy measures should be continuously improved, review standards in key areas should be refined, and the operability of the system should be enhanced. Anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition law enforcement and judiciary should be strengthened, the law enforcement interview mechanism should be improved, acts of abusing administrative power to exclude or restrict competition should be severely investigated and punished, and typical cases should be regularly published to strengthen the deterrent effect of the law. Further rectify the chaos in local government procurement and bidding, promote the revision of the Bidding and Tendering Law, strengthen the fairness review of winning bid results, and achieve full-process open management of projects. Promote strict, standardized, fair, and civilized law enforcement, unify regulatory standards, standardize regulatory processes, strengthen law enforcement coordination, implement the benchmark system for administrative discretion, promote cross-regional alignment of administrative law enforcement standards, and create a stable, fair, transparent, and predictable development environment.

推动有效市场和有为政府更好结合，应以法治来划定政府和市场的边界。市场能做好的事情，政府坚决不插手，政府专注于管好那些市场管不了或管不好的事情，把政府行为放在法律和制度的标尺下进行统一规范。具体而言，在纵深推进全国统一大市场建设的过程中，要严格落实《公平竞争审查条例》，强化公平竞争审查的刚性约束，继续完善抽查、举报处理、重大政策措施会同审查等工作机制，细化重点领域审查标准，增强制度的可操作性。强化反垄断和反不正当竞争执法司法，完善执法约谈机制，严厉查处滥用行政权力排除、限制竞争的行为，定期发布典型案例以强化法律的震慑效应。进一步整治地方政府采购招标投标乱象，推动修订招标投标法，加强对中标结果的公平性审查，实现项目全流程公开管理。推进严格规范公正文明执法，统一监管标准、规范监管流程、加强执法协同，落实行政裁量权基准制度，推动行政执法标准跨区域衔接，营造稳定公平透明可预期的发展环境。

Consolidating the Institutional Foundation of the Market Economy

夯实市场经济的制度根基

Under the conditions of a market economy, social production and reproduction are realized through a series of production and exchange activities by multiple entities in the market. If market institutional rules have regional segmentation and differences, it will directly lead to rule conflicts and order chaos in cross-regional transactions. This not only significantly increases institutional transaction costs but also hinders the free flow and efficient allocation of production factors. Therefore, building a complete set of basic market economy institutions, such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, and social credit, is a basic requirement for building a unified national market and a fundamental guarantee for the effective operation of the socialist market economy. In the process of building a unified national market, the above institutions still have room for further improvement, such as weak links in the property rights protection system, the need to enhance the consistency of market access standards in some areas, and the incomplete social credit system and regulatory system.

在市场经济条件下，社会生产和再生产是由市场中的多方主体通过一系列生产和交换活动来实现的。若市场制度规则存在区域分割和差异，将直接导致跨区域交易的规则冲突与秩序紊乱。这不仅大幅提升制度性交易成本，更会阻碍生产要素的自由流动与高效配置。因而，构建完善的产权保护、市场准入、公平竞争、社会信用等市场经济基础制度，是建设全国统一大市场的基本要求，也是社会主义市场经济有效运行的基本保障。在全国统一大市场建设过程中，上述制度仍有进一步完善空间，如产权保护制度还存在薄弱环节，部分领域市场准入标准一致性有待加强，社会信用体系和监管制度尚不健全，等等。

To solve the above problems, it is necessary to use legal thinking and legal methods to strengthen unified basic market institutional rules, enhance the scientific nature, authority, and enforceability of the institutions, and provide institutional guarantees for building a unified national market. It is necessary to continue to improve legislation on intellectual property protection, establish a unified and standardized law enforcement and judicial system for property-related dispute cases, further clarify and unify administrative law enforcement and judicial adjudication standards, and equally protect the property rights and legitimate rights and interests of all types of business entities in accordance with the law. Continuously improve the market access and exit system, strictly implement the "one national list" management model, orderly relax market access, especially continuously optimize the market access environment for new business forms and new fields, implement the requirement of "entry unless prohibited," and encourage private enterprises to enter more fields in accordance with the law. Improve the enterprise bankruptcy legal system, optimize the enterprise exit mechanism, promote supporting reforms for enterprise cancellation, and maintain a healthy market environment. Accelerate the legislative process of the Social Credit Construction Law, establish a mechanism for sharing and integrating public credit information with various professional information, promote cross-departmental and cross-regional sharing and mutual recognition of credit information, and accelerate the establishment of a unified credit repair mechanism.

解决上述问题，需运用法治思维、法治方法强化统一的市场基础制度规则，增强制度的科学性、权威性和执行力，为建设全国统一大市场提供制度保障。需继续完善知识产权保护立法，健全统一规范的涉产权纠纷案件执法司法体系，进一步明确和统一行政执法、司法裁判标准，依法平等保护各类经营主体产权和合法权益。持续完善市场准入和退出制度，严格落实“全国一张清单”管理模式，有序放宽市场准入，尤其要不断优化新业态新领域市场准入环境，落实“非禁即入”要求，鼓励民营企业依法进入更多领域。完善企业破产法律制度，优化企业退出机制，推进企业注销配套改革，维护健康市场环境。加快推进社会信用建设法立法进程，建立公共信用信息同各种专业信息共享整合机制，推动信用信息跨部门跨地区共享互认，加快健全统一的信用修复机制。

Deepening Market-Oriented Reform of Factors

深化要素市场化改革

Production factors are the source of value creation, and the factor market is the foundation of the entire market system. Only by promoting the smooth flow of various factor resources on a larger scale can resources be better allocated, total factor productivity be improved, the advantages of China's super-large market be fully utilized, and market potential be further unleashed. Therefore, actively promoting market-oriented reform of factors, building a more complete system and mechanism for market-oriented allocation of factors, and creating a unified factor resource market are key to deepening the construction of a unified national market. Currently, the institutional framework for market transactions of traditional factors such as capital and labor in China has been basically established, but there are still situations where rules are not sound. At the same time, the market for new production factors represented by data still has immature and incomplete situations.

生产要素是价值创造的源泉，要素市场是整个市场体系的基础。只有促进各类要素资源在更大范围内畅通流动，才能更好配置资源、提高全要素生产率，充分发挥我国超大规模市场优势、进一步释放市场潜力。因而，积极推进要素市场化改革，构建更加完善的要素市场化配置体制机制，打造统一要素资源市场，是纵深推进全国统一大市场建设的关键。当前，我国资本、劳动力等传统要素的市场交易制度框架已经基本确立，但仍存在规则不健全的情况。同时，以数据为代表的新型生产要素的市场仍存在不成熟、不完善的情况。

To remove institutional and mechanism obstacles hindering the free flow of factors, it is necessary, according to the different development stages and needs of various factor and resource markets, to deepen market-oriented reform of factors on the track of the rule of law, comprehensively improve the level of rule-of-law governance in factor markets, establish factor transaction rules through the rule of law, standardize factor market order, and improve factor allocation efficiency. For example, in the market-oriented reform of the labor factor, establishing a unified urban and rural labor market is crucial. It is necessary to promote the revision of relevant laws and regulations, deepen the reform of the household registration system, and promote the orderly and smooth flow of labor. For the data factor, it is necessary to strengthen data legislation, clarify standards and rules related to data circulation and transaction, refine procedures for sharing and opening public data, strengthen data security supervision, build a national integrated data market, and effectively solve the problems of data silos and fragmentation in data collection, sorting, storage, transmission, and sharing. Furthermore, to further smooth the circulation cycle of resource factors, it is also necessary to create a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized first-class business environment, improve domestic laws and regulations, align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, and promote the efficient connection of domestic and international markets.

破除阻碍要素自由流动的体制机制障碍，需根据各类要素和资源市场发展的不同阶段和需求，在法治轨道上深化要素市场化改革，全面提升要素市场治理的法治化水平，以法治确立要素交易规则、规范要素市场秩序、提升要素配置效率。例如，在劳动力要素市场化改革中，健全城乡统一的劳动力市场至关重要，需通过推动相关法律法规修订，深化户籍制度改革，促进劳动力有序顺畅流动。对于数据要素而言，需加强数据立法，明确数据流通交易相关标准规则、细化公共数据共享和开放程序、强化数据安全监管，构建全国一体化数据市场，有效解决数据收集、整理、储存、传递、共享中的数据孤岛和碎片化问题。此外，进一步畅通资源要素流通循环，还需营造市场化、法治化、国际化一流营商环境，完善国内法律法规，对接国际高标准经贸规则，推动国内国际市场高效联通。

(The author is a Distinguished Research Fellow of the Beijing Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Center and a Professor at the School of Humanities, China University of Political Science and Law)

（作者系北京市习近平新时代中国特色社会主义思想研究中心特约研究员、中国政法大学人文学院教授）

Online Editor: Tongxin

网络编辑：同心