Balance needed to achieve goals

As China moves forward with its vision for a high-standard socialist market economy, the pivotal issue of balancing the relationship between the government and the market should be addressed so that a facilitating government serves an efficient market, experts said during the 90th International Forum on China Reform.

Efforts to foster a unified national market where domestic and foreign businesses can thrive on an equal footing to help unleash internal driving forces and creativity will also be high on the agenda, they said during the two-day event in Haikou, Hainan province, which ended on Sunday.

At the core of an advanced socialist market economy is the goal of achieving highly efficient resource distribution through market-based mechanisms. This will allow supply and demand to play a decisive role in guiding economic activities, said Cao Li, vice-president of the Party School of the Communist Party of China Qinghai Provincial Committee.

Meanwhile, the government will strengthen its macroeconomic management capabilities, employing a range of fiscal, monetary and industrial policies to maintain overall stability and steer the economy's development, Cao added.

The push for a unified national market aligns with China's goals to further bring out the market's role in allocating resources.

The sheer scale and diversity of China's market, with a burgeoning middle-income group and a thriving private sector, presents a unique opportunity for robust economic expansion. Yet, underlying obstacles have cast shadows on the seamless functioning of this mammoth market.

Tamas Hajba, senior adviser for China and head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Beijing office, said it is crucial to ensure fair competition across all levels of the market, from the local to the national.

He stressed that this requires harmonizing legal and regulatory frameworks to enable equitable treatment of all market players.

Cao said, however, that gaps in the enforcement of laws and regulations at the local level are creating a fragmented business environment, making it difficult for companies to navigate the complex regulatory landscape.

In August, China brought into force new regulations for fair competition reviews, bringing all government policy measures that intervene in economic activities under the purview of the review framework.

Hu Min, director of the National Academy of Governance Press, said the free and efficient flow of labor, capital, technology, data and other production factors is a key pillar of a high-standard socialist market economy.

A number of Chinese manufacturing enterprises, for example, are now relocating their production facilities to the country's central and western regions, where abundant land and labor resources are on offer that can help manufacturing firms optimize their cost structure.

The construction of a unified national market can help break down the fragmentation of regional markets, enabling the rational flow and optimal allocation of resources across different areas of the country, Hu added.