China to dismantle local barriers to build national market

CHINA’S Premier Li Qiang urged policymakers to clean up policies that hinder fair competition and take on steps needed to build a unified national market, China Central Television reported.

Chairing a State Council group study session on Monday (Feb 26), Li called for the authorities to break down explicit and implicit access barriers in local markets. Policymakers should also continue to address other issues related to the goal of forming a unified market, including local protection and market segmentation, Li said. 

Local governments must promote building a unified market “step by step,” he said. Li also vowed policymakers would deepen reforms in the fiscal and tax systems to support the goal. 

Li’s statements echo similar comments made by Chinese authorities in recent months about forming a unified national market, which envisions removing local protectionism with rules and standardisation that are applied uniformly nationwide in order to promote efficiency. 

As part of the goal, China said last year it will support phased-in relocation of industries from the eastern region to less-developed areas in central and western China. BLOOMBERG