A train departs from a logistics park in Xuchang, Central China's Henan Province on December 21, 2021. Photo: cnsphotos

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently issued the development outline for the country's circulation system during the 14th Five Year Plan period 2021-25 in a bid to secure the implementation of its dual circulation development strategy. 

Circulation system covers various phases in consumption including production, transport and retailing. As an essential part of the system, China vowed to continue developing current transport network by 2025 and establish a complete global logistics system as of 2035, according to the outline. 

China's total volume of rail and seaport transport, container throughput and parcel orders in 2020 ranked the first in the world with 1.97 billion tons of cargo transported. The NDRC pointed out that an advanced logistic system would stabilize the domestic trade within the e-commerce sector. 

In 2020, the sale value of Chinese enterprises above designate size in wholesale and retailing sector hit 86.5 trillion yuan ($13.66 trillion), with one quarter of the transactions made online. Aside from enhancing infrastructure across the logistics sector to increase overall transport capacity, the outline also called on offline retail enterprises to expand their online business. 

In addressing circulation system of business trading, the outline flagged improving trade market and circulation network for agricultural products based on different regions and areas. Responsible authorities will aim to support small and medium-sized enterprises amid further strengthening large enterprises in the market. 

The outline urged the connection between domestic and foreign markets by expanding domestic demand for export products and improving cross-border logistics, also noting that more tax-free stores will be built in Chinese cities. 

With more participants joining the circulation system, NDRC stated an intention to toughen anti-monopoly and fair-trading laws to facilitate sustainable market expansion. 

An upgrade of cold-chain transport was referenced in the outline, citing the need to enhance supervision during all phases of transport chain and conduct quarantine checks to prevent the spread of the virus.