Important to have a truly unified national market

Comments on Dongfu’s comments on “The blurry line between public and private in China” by G.E. Anderson, 8/07/2009, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2009/07/08/the-blurry-line-between-public-and-private-in-china/

Dongfu may be correct. Although China is a unitary country/system, it often suffers internal market divisions by various forces. That is not good for the country, including those protected regions themselves, just like trade protections between countries.

A truly unified national market will do great good to China, as well as to other trading partners. It will unleash much greater efficiency in resources allocation and enhance the national welfare. So I think centralisation is not enough in some areas in China and China will need to strengthen it.

Having said that, I think China has probably made considerable progress. It may be an issue of working progress. As China is further integrated into the world market system, any internal market barriers will also be removed.