Fighting Fragmentation

A long push for a unified and open market haseventually crystallized into a national strategy. Acatchphrase that quickly made the headlines has evolved into an indispensable facet of economic retooling amidthe haze of domestic and global perplexity.

The imperative upgrade of China’s huge marketfrom big to strong envisions breaking local protection and various entrenched sticking points that weigh ondomestic flows of goods， services， capital， and labor.

Market segmentation is now arguably one of thehighest priorities， and it is likely the result of the double- edged sword of rivalry among regions over GDP growth and scale. The trend catapulted the country into theworld’s second-largest economy status in just a fewdecades， but solidified a change-as-you-go approach to regional market oversight.

Transportation and logistics disruptions amid theOmicron outbreak in Shanghai in April coincided with the strategy announcement and were seen as justifying thepush for a unified market. Without standardized rulesto unify oversight over a gigantic highway network， thecountry’s transportation prowess could easily devolveinto an annoying pain point blocking economic activity.

A slew of actions in the strategy’s wake have aimed to swiftly unblock transportation impasses.

Nonetheless， concerns remain over how effectivethe economy can redefine its market apparatus afterdecades of market segmentation. Thus far， few havebeen convinced that the unified market strategy willserve as a legally binding decree capable of penalizingpersons， businesses， institutions， or government bodies in violation.