China vows support for development of private economy

This photo taken on Jan. 11, 2023 shows employees working at a factory of Lotus Cars in an industrial park of the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.(Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

China has announced concrete measures in six areas to enhance support for the private economy, following previous measures rolled out in 2023 that saw private enterprises register high trade and investment growth.

Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said on Tuesday that more pragmatic measures will be taken in six areas. He made the statement at a themed conference on the private economy's high-quality development, held in Jinjiang, east China's Fujian Province.

The six areas are as follows: accelerating the legislative process of the law on the promotion of the private economy; improving multi-level communications and exchanges and listening to the real voices of private enterprises; strengthening the analysis of the private economy's development; attracting more private capital to participate in major national engineering projects, such as railways and nuclear power, as well as in others covering energy, water facilities, and ecological and environmental protection; promulgating good practices and cases for mutual learning; and improving work mechanisms with a view to better serving the private economy's development.

A series of policies to promote the development of the private economy was introduced in 2023. "With the implementation of these policies and measures, the development of the private economy has shown a general trend of steady progress and steady improvement," Zheng said.

Government data shows that from January to November 2023, the imports and exports of private enterprises increased by 6.1 percent year-on-year. Excluding investment in the real-estate sector, private investment increased by 9.1 percent year-on-year during the same period.