Zhang Jie, Professor of the School of Economics, Chinese Min University, and a key member of the China Macroeconomic Forum (CMF), this article was reprinted from Zhonghong Network on April 18.
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Since entering the "14th Five-Year Plan", China's economy is changing from an extensive growth model to a critical period of accelerated formation of a high-quality growth model. Whether it can effectively cultivate and stimulate China's super-large-scale economic advantages is of decisive significance to the formation of a high-quality model for China's economy. The construction of a unified national market and the cultivation of China's super-large-scale economic advantages are the "two sides" of a coin, and the two are decisive factors for each other, supporting each other, promoting each other, and integrating development. On the one hand, the national unified large market is the basic condition for cultivating and stimulating the advantages of China's super-large-scale economy, and the more it accelerates the formation of a domestic unified large-scale market mechanism, the more conducive it will be to China's cultivation of super-large-scale economic advantages; on the other hand, only a large developing country like China can rely on promoting market-oriented reforms and building a unified domestic market to gradually release the unique super-large-scale economic advantages and market dividends.
It is precisely in recognition of China's unique development advantages of relying on promoting market integration to shape a super-large economy, from the perspective of top-level design, the central government has accelerated the deployment of a key trilogy to comprehensively promote the construction of a socialist market economic system with Chinese characteristics: the first is the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Building a More Perfect Factor Market-oriented Allocation System and Mechanism" issued on April 9, 2020, which proposes to "break down the institutional and institutional obstacles that hinder the free flow of factors". As a key reform breakthrough in building a socialist market economic system with Chinese characteristics in the new era; the second part is the Action Plan for Building a High-Standard Market System issued in early 2021, which proposes to make comprehensive and specific work arrangements for the construction of a high-standard market system with Chinese characteristics from the perspective of "consolidating the basic system of the market system and promoting the efficient allocation of factor resources"; the third part is the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating the Construction of a Unified National Large Market" issued on April 10, 2022. The blockbuster document clearly states that "it is necessary to speed up the establishment of a unified national market system and rules, break down local protection and market segmentation, open up key blockages restricting the economic cycle, and accelerate the construction of a unified national market that is efficient, standardized, fair competition, and fully open."
Judging from the objective law, taking the initiative to promote China's market integration construction is not a stopgap measure, but a major strategic judgment and choice made by the central government in the areas of China's economic growth power mechanism and the deepening of the national policy of opening up to the outside world in the coming period based on the advantages of the world's unique super-large-scale economy that China's economy is forming. It is not only a "key move" for China to use its huge domestic demand market to shape the endogenous economic growth driving force mechanism, but also an "important magic weapon" for China to use its unique super-large-scale economic advantages to expand the new situation of opening up to the outside world, and it is also a "fixed sea needle" for China to cope with the increasingly complex domestic and foreign economic situation. It is not only the core carrier platform for implementing the innovation development strategy, building the world's leading innovative country and promoting the technological innovation ability of local enterprises, but also the initiative strategy of cracking the technology blockade and economic decoupling strategy of Western developed countries led by the United States, and it also reflects china's consistent adherence to the development principle of stimulating fair market competition mechanism and allocating resources.
In order to take the initiative to effectively transform the advantages of the market integration policy into the comprehensive development advantages of China's super-large-scale economy, in the coming period, it is particularly necessary to pay attention to the major reform breakthroughs and specific measures in the following aspects in the process of promoting the formation of a unified large national market:
First of all, we will take the initiative to integrate the internal circulation system that uses the advantages of China's local high-end demand market scale to promote the improvement of the technological innovation capabilities of local enterprises. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, China is in a period of opportunity to promote the spiral of supply and demand and achieve dynamic balance at a higher level, and the core mechanism connecting the supply side and the demand side is the unique circular mechanism of "upgrading local demand to support the overall improvement of local enterprises' independent innovation capabilities". On the one hand, the supply-side structural reform that China is deepening is essentially to fully introduce the ability of independent innovation into the real economic sector dominated by China's manufacturing industry, so as to stimulate "innovation is the first driving force". However, Chinese local enterprises rely on independent innovation to create and produce high-quality products, can only rely mainly on the high-end needs of China's high-income consumers to support; on the other hand, once most Chinese local enterprises rely on technological innovation ability as the core source of their competitive advantage, it will inevitably create and release a large number of high-human capital and high-income jobs, thereby providing local jobs for China's highly educated talents and further promoting the growth of China's middle-income groups. Provide a power mechanism for the expansion and upgrading of China's domestic market demand scale.
Second, comprehensively resolve the key blockages and core institutional obstacles that hinder the formation of China's unified large market. In fact, in the process of comprehensively promoting the formation of a unified national market, China will inevitably face a series of key blockages and core institutional obstacles that are difficult to ignore. On the one hand, at present, an important factor that constrains China's formation of a unified national market is the phenomenon of local protectionism and market segmentation, especially in the use of various industrial policies that do not conform to the principle of fair competition in the market and preferential policies for attracting investment and investment, and in the unreasonable control or intervention of local governments in allocating power in the market of key elements. To this end, how to scientifically define and organically coordinate the functions of the effective market and the government, not only to fully stimulate the decisive role of the effective market in the allocation of resources, but also to play the role of the government in industrial transformation and upgrading and economic structure optimization and adjustment of the key guidance and system supervision, is a key institutional guarantee factor related to whether China's unified large market can be accelerated; on the other hand, deeply understand the essential connotation of the national unified large market dominated by the trinity of "efficient standardization, fair competition, and full opening up". Under the premise of building a sound institutional norm, promote the orderly division of labor of the capital chain of the key industrial chain supply chain innovation chain within the Scope of the Chinese Market, ensure the smooth flow of various intermediate products and key element resources across regions, and encourage the capital chain of China's key industrial chain supply chain innovation chain to deeply participate in the global division of labor and trade system under the pattern of ensuring fair competition between domestic and foreign economic entities, so as to cultivate and shape the super-large-scale economic advantages of the national unified large market. Create and strengthen China's new advantages in the global industrial chain supply chain innovation chain capital chain system, and promote China's complete transformation from a manufacturing power to a creative power, and a fundamental transformation from a trading power to a trading power.
Finally, we should actively plan to transform the advantages of the super-large economy into an important means to stabilize China's deep participation in global economic integration. At present, the Western developed countries led by the United States have launched a comprehensive technological blockade and partial economic decoupling against China, which has brought huge external challenges and risks to the high-quality development of China's economy that are difficult to ignore. Aiming at the implementation of China's economic development goals set during the 14th Five-Year Plan period and even during 2035. There is an urgent need to actively plan and actively explore effective responses to these major external challenges and risks, and to ensure China's most basic right to economic development and security. To this end, it is necessary to highly realize that in the coming period, taking the initiative to transform the advantages of the national unified large market policy into the advantages of the comprehensive development of super-large-scale economies is the most favorable chip and winning magic weapon for China to cope with external challenges and pressures. On the one hand, China's upcoming advantage of the world's first super-large-scale economy has become an important consumption place for primary products and high-end products from major countries around the world, which provides the most important support conditions for China to stabilize global economic integration and ensure China's vested interests in the global industrial chain supply chain innovation chain system; on the other hand, to take the initiative to take advantage of China's unique super-large-scale economy. It can provide a vital basic condition for China to build a trinity of development advantages of "national strategic scientific and technological strength at the forefront of the world + core industrial chain supply chain system that masters key core technological innovation breakthroughs + local high-tech multinational enterprises with the world's leading technological innovation capabilities".