The Constitutional Logic of Optimizing the Fair Competition Review System

As an institutional tool for upholding the rule of law in the market economy, the fair competition review system embodies the value pursuit of establishing a “unified national market” and its constitutional attributes have been recognized by academia. General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to accelerate the improvement of fundamental market economic systems, including fair competition. However, the current fair competition system faces dual challenges in practice: insufficient review capacity and weak motivation among administrative entities, resulting in suboptimal effectiveness that urgently requires optimization. The introduction of constitutional theory is both normatively justified and advantageous. Reviewing the evolution of constitutional norms reveals an inherent commitment to the equal protection of market entities, thereby establishing a legal framework for state regulation of the market economy. The theoretical toolkit of constitutionalism has been further enriched through the practice of record-based review, providing a theoretical foundation for refining fundamental market economic systems within the rule of law. Taking the implementation of the Fair Competition Review Regulations as an opportunity, the review authority should be allocated to legislative bodies—such as people’s congresses—that possess functional advantages, in accordance with the principle of functionalist power allocation, thereby achieving the integration of review resources. Ex ante, the scope of review should be defined from a constitutional perspective, ensuring comprehensive and holistic coverage; in process, specific guidelines for applying review standards should be formulated based on constitutional principles and spirit; ex post, a multi-stakeholder participatory oversight mechanism should be established to jointly safeguard the system's improvement. These constitute the future directions for refining the fair competition review system.