People enjoying the summer nights in Chongqing with the city skyline in the background. (Photo/Chongqing)

Chongqing - For overseas businesses eyeing China, fewer internal barriers can mean smoother access to a vast regional market. Chongqing has spent the past four years steadily removing those barriers and integrating more closely into China’s unified national market. The city has now met all its phased targets, turning market integration across the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle from a plan into reality.

The municipal government provided an update on July 29, sharing some telling numbers. Over the past four years, total retail sales of consumer goods jumped from 1.39 trillion yuan (about 204.8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021 to 1.67 trillion yuan (about 245.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025. The private sector's contribution to GDP has also grown, climbing from 59.6% to 61.6%. 

At the same time, Chongqing improved the movement of goods, cutting logistics costs from 14.2% to 13.3% of GDP and delivering significant savings for businesses. The effort began in March 2022 with central government guidelines. A unified national market means removing outdated rules so goods, services and capital can flow freely across regions.

The approach here has been multifaceted. On the physical infrastructure side, Chongqing has made some impressive strides. It now stands as the country's first "five‑type" national logistics hub: across port, dry port, airport, production services, and business services. It also serves as a hub for the China-Europe Railway Express.

Looking at the numbers, Chongqing now boasts the densest rail network in western China, with 3,130 kilometers of track and 4,779 kilometers of expressways. The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a vital route for moving goods, has seen its volumes and values grow by over 30% every year. Over the past five years alone, the China-Europe Railway Express has run more than 13,000 trips from Chongqing, moving 1.12 million TEUs of cargo worth over 360 billion yuan (about 53.0 billion U.S. dollars).

But it's not just about concrete and steel. The city has also been working on the market rules. It established a national‑level IP protection center and enacted local regulations to safeguard intellectual property. Fair competition reviews have become standard practice, with 11,300 policy documents examined and 276 amended or scrapped. A new public credit system now helps regulators apply more targeted oversight.

There is a conscious effort by the government to reduce red tape and let markets work. The municipal government now enforces "negative lists" that clearly spell out what it cannot do, and it has actively dismantled interventions that impede business. One campaign removed 45 access barriers and revised 22 outdated policies. Administrative inspections have also been streamlined, with clear lists of what and who gets checked. Since 2025, digital inspections at 22,200 firms have helped cut duplicate checks by 11,300 cases.

When it comes to supervision and enforcement, the city has consolidated more than 70% of enforcement matters as part of a major reform. Digital coordination platforms have helped reduce the frequency of inspections by over 20%, making the process less burdensome. Anti‑trust efforts have also been stepped up. With state authorization, Chongqing has reviewed 66 merger and acquisition cases worth nearly 300 billion yuan (about 44.2 billion U.S. dollars), spanning eight regions.