The new development paradigm of “dual circulation” calls for the establishment of a national regional trade network that is unimpeded and features ample trade flows. By applying network analysis methods, this study examines the spatial relationships of China’s regional trade over the past 26 years, comprehensively uncovering the evolutionary characteristics of the overall network and network blocks of inter-regional trade relationships in China, along with the network functional characteristics of each region. This offers crucial decisionmaking support for the successful implementation of the strategy of the new development paradigm of “dual circulation”. The findings indicate that the density of China’s regional trade network has been steadily rising, and the spatial relationships of regional trade have notably increased. The development has gradually transitioned from a stage led by a few individual regions to an initial stage of constructing the “ dual circulation” network. The trade network has continuously differentiated into more advanced trade-intensive blocks, and currently, a trade-intensive block consisting of 19 regions has taken shape. There are disparities in the ability of each region to perform the three major network functions, generally presenting a decreasing gradient pattern from the eastern to the central and western regions. Meanwhile, each region should formulate regional trade strategies based on its network-advantageous functions to lay a solid trade-network foundation for accelerating the formation of the new development paradigm of “dual circulation”.