(Mid-Year Economic Observation) Officials frequently come out to govern the market China is ushering in the era of "strong supervision"
China News Agency, Beijing, July 16th (Reporter Liu Liang) Since 2021, Chinese officials have frequently rectified the chaos in the market.
Does the continuous increase in market supervision mean that China has ushered in an era of "strong supervision"?
Looking back at the first half of 2021, China’s strength, frequency, and scope in cracking down on market chaos is impressive.
From the heavy release of the anti-monopoly guidelines in the field of platform economy at the beginning of the year to the promulgation of the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Transactions", all officials have revealed that the authorities are highly concerned about the problems in the current market.
If the timeline is lengthened, last year's Central Economic Work Conference and other important high-level meetings have already mentioned anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition many times, laying the groundwork for it in advance.
From the perspective of actual implementation, the government's determination to rectify market chaos is not "talking on paper."
Since the beginning of this year, officials have frequently issued interviews with relevant companies in areas such as platform economy, medical institutions, education and training institutions, and imposed strict penalties.
Regarding the suspected unfair competition behavior of Vipshop, the official promptly launched an investigation and penalized it in less than a month; in response to the problem of counterfeiting of well-known hospitals, it was required to comprehensively clean up market entities containing well-known hospital brand names; and in response to improper prices For the behavior, many community group buying companies were “stopped” in time; for the false propaganda and price fraud of off-campus training institutions, top fines were imposed on more than a dozen well-known off-campus training institutions....
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By looking at the current economic development in China, we can get a glimpse of the logic of "strong supervision".
Take the platform economy that has received more attention from market regulators as an example. In recent years, the new economic model with digital technology at its core has created convenience for people’s lives, especially since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic. It plays a significant role in medical diagnosis, fresh food e-commerce, etc.
However, the platform economy has also exposed shortcomings in the development process, posing new challenges to market order and the protection of consumer rights and interests.
For example, some platforms "deceptively bully customers" and implement the "two-choice one" and exclusive market strategy, forming obvious platform monopolistic behavior; users' privacy information security on the platform, counterfeit and inferior products on the online shopping platform, etc. frequently occur. Exposing the lack of economic credit of the platform, etc.
Regarding the "monopoly" phenomenon that exists in the platform economy, Yang Zhiyong, deputy dean of the Institute of Finance and Economics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the development of the platform economy is inseparable from the power of capital, but the abuse of capital power must be prevented.
"Obtaining market monopoly through the platform affects the decisive role of the market in resource allocation. Effective market supervision should be implemented to promote the normal operation of market order."
Official data show that the number of market entities in China has reached 144 million, which is a significant increase from 55 million in 2012. Strengthening market supervision is to some extent to ensure the sound development of market entities.
The Chinese market supervision department recently emphasized that at the current stage of development, a good business environment and a fair competition market environment are productivity and competitiveness. Maintaining fair competition in the market and efficient operation of market mechanisms is the meaning of strengthening market supervision.
At the same time, "strong supervision" is also responding to social concerns.
In recent years, major brands and merchants have carried out promotional activities at important time points such as "618" and "Double 11". As a result, they have been involved in vicious competition between platforms. The "choice of two" that has been criticized by netizens is a typical example.
This also reflects the public's expectations for the official rectification of market chaos.
It can be seen that the official "strong supervision" not only responds to social concerns, but also promotes the optimization and improvement of market governance capabilities, serves the stability and order of market order, and creates a good social environment for the vigorous development of various market entities.
At the beginning of the second half of the year, the signal of "strong supervision" by the market supervision department continued to be released.
In the field of platform economy, the merger of Huya and Douyu was banned in accordance with the law, and continued to strengthen anti-monopoly and prevent the disorderly expansion of capital; on the issue of corporate fees, it has clearly focused on key areas such as plumbing, electricity and heating, commercial banks, and focused on governance Unreasonable fees, inadequate implementation of preferential policies, violations of policies and regulations to pass on costs, compulsory fees, and only fees but not services.
Many analysts pointed out that since the beginning of this year, various signs of the government's intensive fight against market chaos have shown that "strong supervision" will become an important development trend.
In the future, there may be more areas that will carry out strong market supervision and will involve a wider range of industries.
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