A view of Shanghai File photo: VCG

Three Chinese departments, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Ministry of Commerce, and State Administration for Market Regulation, announced on Tuesday the launch of a campaign to eliminate market access barriers, in order to promote the development of a national unified market.

According to the announcement, the initiative will comprehensively eliminate unreasonable regulations and practices that improperly establish market access barriers, publicize typical violation cases, establish and improve long-term mechanisms including clue collection, verification and rectification procedures, and case disclosure, in order to foster a fair market access environment, and support the development of a unified national market.

The initiative focuses on addressing regulatory documents, including local regulations, rules, administrative normative documents, and other policy papers, that violate market access system requirements, as well as local government practices that illegally impose market access barriers.

The campaign targets 15 types of violations, including cases where national-level restrictions have been lifted but local authorities continue requiring approvals, setting market access restrictions for enterprises from other regions as well as unlawfully imposing access restrictions on foreign-invested enterprises, according to the announcement.

The campaign will promote the clean-up of local regulations, rules, and administrative normative documents. Provincial-level development and reform units, in collaboration with commerce and market regulation departments, will comprehensively review documents related to market access-related regulations. Provisions that illegally add market access requirements, expand the scope of market access, or similar violations must be uniformly corrected. Market access regulations established without legal basis or proper statutory procedures must be fully abolished, according to the announcement.

The campaign will last for six months, and after it concludes, the verification, rectification, and elimination of market access barriers will transition into a regular mechanism, per the announcement.

"The move will further create a fairer market environment for all types of business entities. It not only help stimulate market vitality and creativity, promoting the formation of a national unified market that is efficient, well-regulated, fair-competitive, and fully open, but also further enhance resource allocation efficiency, injecting momentum into high-quality economic development," Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Wang noted that the initiative also conveys the Chinese government's firm determination to continuously optimize the business environment and sends positive signals to boost confidence among both domestic and foreign investors.

On April 24, the NDRC announced that China has further shortened its market access negative list. The new version of the market access negative list reduced the number of items from 117 to 106.

The new list has lowered the entry threshold by directly removing a set of national measures, for example, the seal engraving industry has shifted from a licensing system to a filing one, according to an official with the NDRC.

Some regional measures, including ship design and construction as well as alcohol production and operation management measures established by local authorities, have been eliminated. These matters affected by such eliminations are now managed under a unified national access method.

Wang said the adjustments can further reduce the operating costs of enterprises, and stimulate market vitality and social creativity. 

Wang noted that the campaign, together with the newly released negative list, is significant for attracting foreign investment and promoting the development of the private economy. "The moves will provide a more stable, transparent and predictable investment environment, as well as promote fair competition for all market entities," the expert said.