The integration of domestic and international trade in China has seen significant progress in recent years, actively tapping into both domestic and global markets. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the cumulative total import and export value exceeded 200 trillion yuan, representing a 41.1% increase in 2025 compared to 2020. The outline for the 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to promote the integrated development of domestic and foreign trade and deepen reforms in standards and certification. As this integration is a long-term and complex task, how can efforts be intensified to better utilize both domestic and international markets? Experts have been invited to discuss related issues.
Steady Progress and Substantial Potential in Integration
What progress and results have been achieved in the integrated development of domestic and international trade, and what opportunities and challenges exist? Zhang Xiaolan, a researcher at the Information and Industrial Development Department of the State Information Center under the National Development and Reform Commission, states that accelerating this integration is a major initiative for smoothing domestic and international dual circulation, promoting high-level opening-up, and achieving high-quality economic development. It is also an essential path for China's transition from a large trading nation to a strong trading power. Integration is not merely the sum of domestic and foreign trade; the key is to break down the institutional divisions and market barriers between domestic and international markets, achieving a systemic transformation of market connectivity, subject synergy, resource sharing, and two-way flow of factors, thereby enhancing the synergistic effects of utilizing both domestic and international resources.
From a developmental perspective, China's integration of domestic and foreign trade has progressed from initial exploration to comprehensive and deepening promotion, entering a critical period of sustained policy dividend release, deep breakthroughs in rule convergence, accelerated corporate transformation, and continuous enhancement of opening-up capacity. The policy framework has shifted from top-level design to intensive implementation. China's deployment of integrated development began relatively early, with the Third Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee in 2003 proposing to accelerate the process. In 2021, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Promoting the Integrated Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade," clarifying the direction. In 2023, it issued the "Several Measures to Accelerate the Integrated Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade," introducing 18 specific initiatives. With a series of policy measures introduced, the working system for promoting integration has become increasingly refined. Currently, the policy focus has shifted from framework construction to rigorous implementation, with pilot regions' experiences being gradually replicated and promoted, and policy dividends continuing to be released.
Rule alignment has transitioned from partial connection to comprehensive integration. In recent years, China has accelerated the conversion of international standards, continuously improved the consistency level between domestic and international standards, and comprehensively promoted the "same line, same standard, same quality" project. Simultaneously, it has deepened international cooperation in inspection, quarantine, and certification, and broadened the scope of mutual recognition of qualifications through platforms such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Belt and Road Initiative. Rule alignment has gradually extended from single fields to all links of the industrial chain.
Corporate development has shifted from passive adaptation to active planning. With changes in the market environment and the implementation of relevant policies, enterprises' understanding of integrated development has deepened, and their enthusiasm for actively planning for both domestic and international markets has continued to rise. In 2024, 87,000 industrial enterprises above designated size achieved integrated domestic and foreign trade operations. By March 2025, over 2,200 leading enterprises in integration had been cultivated nationwide. Foreign trade enterprises have accelerated the establishment of domestic sales channels, while domestic trade enterprises have actively explored cross-border e-commerce and expanded overseas markets. Corporate business models have shifted from "single dependence" to "dual-engine drive."
The opening-up pattern has shifted from commodity and factor flow-based opening to institutional opening. China has continuously advanced high-level opening-up, steadily expanding institutional opening in rules, regulations, management, and standards. The integrated development of domestic and foreign trade has become an important carrier for institutional opening. By aligning with high-standard international economic and trade rules and promoting the convergence of domestic regulatory models and business environments with international standards, a level playing field is provided for foreign-funded enterprises while laying a solid foundation for Chinese enterprises to participate in global competition. The level of opening-up has shifted from scale expansion to quality improvement.
Standing at a new starting point, China's further promotion of integrated development faces multiple opportunities and holds enormous potential. First, the advantage of an ultra-large domestic demand market is significant. With a population of over 1.4 billion and a middle-income group exceeding 400 million, continuous consumption upgrading and the release of domestic demand potential provide a broad market space for foreign trade enterprises transitioning to domestic sales, effectively hedging against risks from external demand fluctuations. Second, high-level institutional opening continues to advance. Reforms in pilot free trade zones and free trade ports are deepening, regional economic and trade agreements like RCEP are being implemented, high-quality Belt and Road cooperation is progressing, alignment with international economic and trade rules is strengthening, and the facilitation level of cross-border trade is continuously improving. Third, the vigorous development of the digital economy empowers domestic and international dual circulation. New business models like cross-border e-commerce and live-streaming e-commerce are rapidly developing, breaking time and space constraints, lowering market entry barriers, and creating more opportunities for SMEs to participate in integration. Fourth, a complete industrial system provides a solid foundation. China possesses the world's most complete and largest industrial system, with strong production adaptability and rapid response capabilities, able to flexibly meet diverse domestic consumption and international order demands, providing solid industrial support for integration.
Simultaneously, integrated development also faces challenges. First, barriers still exist in the alignment of domestic and international rules and standards. Differences in quality standards, certification systems, inspection and quarantine, and regulatory requirements between domestic and international markets lead to high costs for enterprises due to repeated testing and certification. Second, enterprises' market conversion capabilities need improvement. Traditional foreign trade enterprises are unfamiliar with domestic market channels and brand operations, making the transition to domestic sales difficult; domestic trade enterprises lack international market operation experience, have insufficient overseas sales channels, and exhibit weak competitiveness in overseas expansion. Third, supporting service systems across the industrial chain need refinement. Issues such as poor logistics coordination, insufficient cross-border financial support, and limited risk hedging tools hinder SMEs' ability to flexibly switch markets. Fourth, the external environment is complex and volatile. Sluggish global economic recovery, rising trade protectionism, frequent geopolitical conflicts, and the restructuring of global industrial and supply chains have significantly increased uncertainty, adding pressure on business operations.
Looking ahead, China needs to make continuous efforts in areas like rule alignment and market environment, with robust measures to accelerate the integration process.
Achieving Effective Alignment in Standards and Certification
What reforms and practices has China undertaken to promote the alignment and integration of systems like standards and certification? Su Qingyi, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, states that promoting integrated development helps utilize both domestic and international markets and enhances their linkage. In recent years, China has carried out reforms and practices around the alignment of standards and certification, promoting the convergence of rules and systems, which has effectively driven integration.
The policy system has been continuously improved. Policy documents issued by the General Office of the State Council, such as the "Opinions on Promoting the Integrated Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade" and the "Several Measures to Accelerate the Integrated Development of Domestic and Foreign Trade," have made specific arrangements for integration, helping enterprises switch smoothly between domestic and international markets. An inter-ministerial working mechanism was established to promote integration. In 2022 alone, over 130 work initiatives were implemented to promote the alignment of laws and regulations, quality standards, and certification, achieving positive results. In 2025, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Action Plan to Boost Consumption," explicitly calling for improving the level of integration.
Standards and certification are accelerating their alignment with international norms. To standardize the adoption of international standards and steadily expand institutional opening in standards, the State Administration for Market Regulation revised and issued the "Measures for the Administration of Adopting International Standards," speeding up the conversion of international standards into domestic ones. Regarding deepening international cooperation and mutual recognition, by the end of 2024, China had cumulatively joined 21 international certification organizations, signed 15 multilateral mutual recognition agreements, and 150 bilateral cooperation documents. The CCC certification process has been continuously optimized, not only reducing costs for enterprises but also allowing products to enter the domestic market more quickly.
Regulatory rules are being aligned in an orderly manner. In 2022, the filing and registration requirement for foreign trade operators was officially abolished, promoting trade liberalization and facilitation. Pilot free trade zones have focused on exploring institutional systems aligned with international economic and trade rules, achieving a series of breakthrough and pioneering innovations. The scope of mutual recognition for Authorized Economic Operators continues to expand, significantly shortening customs clearance times for enterprises. Relevant departments, including the State Administration for Market Regulation, have continuously promoted the "same line, same standard, same quality" for domestic and foreign trade products, aiming to remove bottlenecks in regulatory alignment between domestic and international markets. These reform initiatives help enterprises switch smoothly between markets and promote deep integration.
The alignment of standards and certification has significantly reduced institutional costs for enterprises and effectively enhanced their ability to utilize resources from both markets. In 2025, China converted 1,510 international standards. By the end of 2025, the overall international standard conversion rate reached 88.9%. The Ningbo Municipal Market Supervision Bureau in Zhejiang Province innovatively implemented a "certificate issuance first, supervision later" model after testing. For the first batch of enterprises using the CCC certification green channel, the cycle to obtain CCC certification certificates was compressed by 65%, and certification costs were reduced by approximately 10%.
Two-way interaction between domestic and international markets has become smoother. In recent years, pilot regions for integration, such as Beijing and Shanghai, have provided replicable experiences for other areas through exploration and practice. The Ministry of Commerce organized the "Foreign Trade Quality Products China Tour" activity, supporting high-quality foreign trade products entering supermarkets, commercial districts, and e-commerce platforms. Local innovation demonstration effects are emerging. The Hunan Pilot Free Trade Zone established the Furong Standardization Industry Cluster Zone to promote the alignment of domestic and international standards, providing one-stop services for quality, standards, and testing, attracting domestic and international standardization institutions. The Hangzhou High-tech Industrial Development Zone released a group standard for "same line, same standard, same quality" and launched special financial credit products for it.
China has achieved notable results in promoting the alignment of standards and certification, but issues such as repeated testing and certification for enterprises and insufficient implementation of "same line, same standard, same quality" persist. To deepen reforms and further promote alignment, efforts should focus on the following areas. First, focus on reducing the institutional costs of market conversion for enterprises. Differences in standards and certification between domestic and international markets lead to high institutional costs for cross-market operations. It is necessary to focus on key areas and links, strengthen the conversion and alignment of standards, actively align with high-standard international economic and trade rules, continuously improve the consistency between domestic and international standards, and reduce repeated testing and certification. Simultaneously, further optimize the CCC certification process to speed up product entry into the domestic market. Second, promote the deeper and more substantive implementation of the "same line, same standard, same quality" project. Further improve relevant policies and measures, actively encourage enterprises to develop such products, increase support, continuously expand product coverage, and focus on smoothing channels for export-to-domestic sales. Give full play to the role of industry associations and platforms, intensify publicity and guidance for consumers to enhance their awareness and recognition. Strengthen supervision of related enterprises and product quality, urging enterprises to fulfill their primary responsibility. Third, steadily enhance the international discourse power of Chinese standards. Strive to upgrade some domestic standards to international ones, support more participation by enterprises, industry associations, and research institutions in international standard setting, and focus on enhancing the international discourse power of Chinese standards. Deepen standard cooperation with Belt and Road partner countries and actively promote the overseas application of Chinese standards.
Digital Empowerment to Smooth Domestic and International Dual Circulation
How is China promoting the connection and integration of domestic and international trade channels? How can digital technology better empower integrated development? Zhang Guofeng, a researcher at the Beijing Institute of Opening-up Studies, University of International Business and Economics, states that advancing integration is conducive to smoothing domestic and international dual circulation and enhancing economic resilience. China's advantage of an ultra-large domestic market and continuously improving foreign trade competitiveness provide strong support for integration. In 2025, China's total retail sales of consumer goods reached 50.1202 trillion yuan, and total goods import and export reached 45.4685 trillion yuan. In the first quarter of this year, goods trade import and export increased by 15% year-on-year. In recent years, China has promoted the smooth connection of domestic and foreign trade channels, helping enterprises utilize resources from both markets and accelerating integration.
First, promote solutions to issues such as the fragmentation of domestic and foreign trade demand information and poor production-sales coordination, drive precise matching between production and domestic and international consumption, open up linkage paths between domestic sales and exports, and enable enterprises to flexibly switch and operate in an integrated manner according to market changes. Second, strive to change the reliance on intermediaries and multi-level distribution, solve problems like long transaction chains, high costs, and information asymmetry, and reverse the situation of many short-term matches but few long-term partnerships. Third, continuously improve enterprise operational levels, address shortcomings of foreign trade enterprises in domestic market operations, enhance product adaptability; strengthen the capabilities of domestic trade enterprises in cross-border operations, international compliance, and overseas fulfillment.
In practice, through precise policy measures, positive results have been achieved in channel connection and integration. On one hand, multi-dimensional platforms are relied upon to smooth channel connections. In recent years, guided by policy coordination, China has focused on building multi-dimensional platforms, gradually forming a platform system covering display and matching, terminal circulation, and cross-border connectivity. National-level exhibitions play a leading role, with events like the Canton Fair, China International Import Expo, and China International Consumer Products Expo exerting continuous effort, fully leveraging their functions in trade negotiation and supply-demand matching, providing enterprises with platforms for concentrated display and matching. Activities are carried out to open up the "last mile" of terminal circulation. For foreign trade enterprises expanding into domestic sales, activities like the "Foreign Trade Quality Products China Tour" are conducted in an orderly manner, with e-commerce platform foreign trade zones and green channels advancing simultaneously, significantly shortening the intermediate chain for foreign trade products entering the domestic market. Pilot regions for integration innovate reforms based on local conditions, exploring replicable and scalable experiences and models. For example, Beijing explores innovations in customs clearance, taxation, and foreign exchange supervision to deepen pilot construction. Shanghai advances pilot work in conjunction with building an international trade center city and an international consumption center city. Zhejiang leverages its industrial cluster advantages to cultivate leading enterprises in integration and pilot industrial bases for reform.
On the other hand, leveraging new business models like cross-border e-commerce, market procurement trade, and overseas warehouses optimizes trade methods and addresses pain points such as difficult connections, high costs, and weak fulfillment. First, data empowerment promotes market expansion. Relying on platform big data to integrate transaction and search information, analyze domestic and international market consumption preferences, helps enterprises judge product adaptability and reduces the risk of blind market expansion. Second, resource integration drives order acquisition. Industrial e-commerce and market procurement trade consolidate scattered merchants and orders, enhancing SMEs' ability to participate in international market operations. Third, embedded services improve fulfillment capabilities. Deep embedding of links like cross-border payment, logistics, and financial insurance into the transaction chain drives the fulfillment system towards integration, standardization, and intelligence, safeguarding enterprises' overseas expansion. Customs data shows that in 2025, China's cross-border e-commerce import and export reached 2.75 trillion yuan, an increase of 69.7% compared to 2020. New business models have become the main force in solving channel不畅 issues.
The vigorous development of new models relies on the deep integration of digital technology and trade. To further remove deep-seated obstacles to integration, it is necessary to use digital technology as a牵引 force, better unleash multiplier effects, promote the transition from single-point connections to全链条 synergy, and focus on driving integrated development. First, promote digital innovation in channels and build a立体化 market expansion system. Relying on new channels like cross-border e-commerce and digital exhibitions,推动 enterprises shift from relying on traditional distributors to online customer acquisition and data-driven product selection, enhancing their responsiveness to changes in domestic and international market demand. Support foreign trade enterprises in connecting with the domestic market through e-commerce platforms, and support domestic trade enterprises in leveraging cross-border e-commerce, overseas warehouses, and digital marketing to expand overseas markets, forming a development model of "online引流, offline delivery, domestic and international linkage." Second, deepen supply chain data synergy to提升一体化 operational efficiency. Break down data silos in key links like procurement, production, and logistics, promote data connection and business synergy between enterprises, platforms, and service providers, alleviate information滞后 during market转换, and effectively connect operational断点. Leverage the牵引 role of leading enterprises and industrial platforms to drive efficient联动 among upstream and downstream entities, enhance the rapid organization and弹性调配 capabilities of the supply chain, and practically solve issues of跨市场履约 instability. Third, strengthen integrated comprehensive services to降低 enterprise operating costs. Accelerate the coordinated construction of smart ports, comprehensive bonded zones, and overseas warehouses, and promote the integration of customs clearance, bonded logistics, and after-sales services. Rely on digital technology to build and improve one-stop comprehensive service platforms for domestic and foreign trade enterprises, achieving deep integration of跨部门,跨区域 government services and commercial service resources, providing全流程 support for enterprises exploring both domestic and international markets.
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