Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on Monday urged efforts to promote the healthy and high-quality development of the country's private sector.
Xi, also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks when attending a symposium on private enterprises, where he delivered an important speech after listening to representatives of private entrepreneurs.
The private sector enjoys broad prospects and great potential on the new journey in the new era. It is a prime time for private enterprises and entrepreneurs to give full play to their capabilities, Xi said.
He urged reaching a consensus and firming up confidence to promote the healthy and high-quality development of the private sector.
Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese premier, and Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese vice premier, also attended the symposium.
Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, presided over the symposium.
Huawei's Ren Zhengfei, BYD's Wang Chuanfu, New Hope's Liu Yonghao, Will Semiconductor's Yu Renrong, Unitree Robotics' Wang Xingxing, and Xiaomi's Lei Jun put forward their opinions and advice on the development of the private sector.
The number of private business entities in China had exceeded 180.86 million by the end of September 2024, accounting for 96.37 percent of the country's total business entities, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation.
Of the total, 55.54 million were private companies while over 125.32 million were self-employed businesses.
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attends a symposium on private enterprises in Beijing, China, February 17, 2025. /Xinhua
Xi said the Party and the country are committed to unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector and unwaveringly encouraging, supporting and guiding the development of the non-public sector.
The Party and the country ensure that economic entities under all forms of ownership have equal access to factors of production in accordance with the law, compete in the market on an equal footing, and are equally protected by the law, Xi said.
Broad prospects, enhanced confidence
The new journey in the new era has provided abundant new opportunities and greater space for the development of the private sector, Xi said.
He stressed that China will further deepen opening up in all aspects, highlighting the immense potential of the country's 1.4 billion-strong mega-market, which will widen prospects for the private economy's development.
The constant improvement of the country's socialist market economy and the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics will provide stronger guarantee for the sector's development, he added.
Xi also emphasized that the current difficulties and challenges facing the private sector are partial and temporary rather than holistic and long-term. "They can be overcome," he said, calling for enhancing confidence in the future.
Implementing, promoting policies
Xi said the current focus of promoting the development of the private sector is to solidly implement relevant policies and measures.
He urged resolutely dismantling obstacles that prevent enterprises from equally accessing production factors and fairly competing in the market, further opening the competitive areas of infrastructure to various business entities in a fair manner, and continuously making solid efforts to address the difficulties faced by private enterprises in obtaining affordable financing.
He also stressed the effective protection of the rights and interests of private enterprises and entrepreneurs in accordance with the law.
High-quality development
Private enterprises and entrepreneurs should embrace entrepreneurship and patriotism, focus on strengthening, optimizing, and expanding their businesses, and be firm contributors to building socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing Chinese modernization, Xi said.
Following the path of high-quality development, it is imperative to strengthen self-innovation, transform development methods, and continuously improve the quality, efficiency and core competitiveness of enterprises, he added.
Xi also called for efforts to make contributions to promoting scientific and technological innovation, cultivating new quality productive forces, building a modern industrial system, comprehensively promoting rural revitalization, promoting coordinated regional development, as well as ensuring and improving people's livelihoods.
(With input from Xinhua)
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