Abstract: Establishing a fair competition review system to prevent excessive and improper government intervention in the market is conducive to ensuring that resource allocation is based on market rules, market prices, and market competition to achieve maximum efficiency and optimization. Taking the A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2022 as samples, this paper examines the impact of the fair competition review system on the differentiation of commercial credit financing between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises. The findings show that a fair competition review system can reduce the degree of differentiation in commercial credit financing between the two. The analysis of the impact mechanism reveals that the fair competition review system can reduce the market position gap and the default risk gap between state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, thus reducing the degree of differentiation in commercial credit financing between the two. Further research has found that the fair competition review system has a more significant effect on reducing the differentiation of commercial credit financing between the two in industries with lower competition levels and regions with better trust environments. To this end, it is necessary to strengthen the implementation of the fair competition review system, incorporate the implementation of fair competition review into the assessment and accountability indicator system of local governments, and explore the establishment of a fair competition review and supervision system that includes multiple stakeholders such as operators, industry associations, and the general public.

Key words: fair competition review, commercial credit financing, market position, default risk