The sector, which makes up more than 90% of the world’s second-largest economy corporations, is building steady expansion as the country reaffirms its support for impervious growth amidst the challenges and challenges, Xinhua reported.
The latest episode of China Economic Roundtable, a full-media talk show hosted by Xinhua News Agency, focused on key messages from a high-level private enterprise symposium held in February, sharing insights on private sector challenges and opportunities. Their discussion also shed light on the sector’s broad development outlook and immeasurable possibilities.
Unshakable support for the private sector
Liu Min, deputy director of the Private Economic Development Bureau (NDRC) under the National Development and Reform Committee (NDRC), China’s top economic planner, said the private sector in China supported national economic growth with solid performance in the first quarter of 2025.
“The clear message from the conference is that the importance of the private sector in the Chinese economy will not change and will not change,” according to Zhu Min, a member of the Senior Expert Advisory Committee at the Centre for International Economic Exchange. He said the conference conveyed the message that full support from government at all levels will be provided to promote healthy development of the sector.
According to official data, in the first quarter of 2025, private companies’ value-added industry production rose 7.3% the previous year, surpassing the growth rate of all industrial companies. Private investment increased 0.4% year-on-year, changing from a decline in 2024. In particular, private investment in the manufacturing sector increased by 9.7%. Meanwhile, private companies’ imports and exports rose 5.8% in the first quarter.
Speaking at the symposium, Li Yonghao, chairman of China’s leading agricultural conglomerate New Hope Group, Li Yonghao, said that the country feels deeply encouraged by the pledges of private companies, and that private companies must strive to challenge new quality productive technologies and Advanced Dechenogies.
Tan Limin, chairman of Westwell, a Chinese high-tech company engaged in AI applications and autonomous driving solutions, said the symposium demonstrates the importance of government attaching it to private sector high-tech companies, encouraging private companies to continue investing more in innovation.
The private economy expands amid support measures
Private companies in China continued to expand steadily in the first quarter of 2025 amid the government’s efforts to promote growth in both the private sector and the broader economy. The newly established private companies rose 7.1% year-on-year, up about 2 million over the period.
From January to March, more than 40% of newly established private companies were related to new technologies, products, business forms and models, data show. Currently, private companies contribute 70% of the country’s technological innovation.
Liu Min said the government will step up its efforts to strengthen and optimize oversight mechanisms related to management fees charged on businesses, address expired payments to private companies, and continue its efforts to ensure fair private sector access to competitive infrastructure and major national scientific research facilities. The government released a new version of the Market Access Negative List on Thursday. This reduced the number of items in the list from 117 to 106, with 11 items down.
“Legal work on the Private Economic Promotion Act is being accelerated, and the draft is expected to be submitted to lawmakers for a third reading,” she said. The proposed law is set to become China’s first basic law specializing in the private sector, explicitly defining the private sector as an important pillar of China’s socialist market economy, with observers hoping to increase entrepreneurial trust and encourage long-term investment.
Zhu said private companies in China are very competitive. He observed over the past few years that private companies in China have been trying to reduce costs and improve quality.
However, in the face of high tariffs, it is important for the country to provide multi-faceted support to private companies by increasing domestic demand and providing funding to navigate the challenges, economists said.
Wide development outlook
Guest speakers have expressed optimism in the outlook for development in China’s private sector, believing that over 1.4 billion people occupy adequate business opportunities for private companies.
Liu Min said that private companies in China are bolstering their technological and industrial innovation efforts as traditional industries evolve steadily into strategic emerging industries such as high-end, intelligent, green and AI, embodied robots, commercial aerospace, biomedical and cultural sectors.
Liu Yonghao said there is great potential for traditional industries to upgrade by developing new quality production capabilities. He cited examples of his company’s investment in digitalization and smart technology applied to cold chain logistics to significantly protect the quality of perishable foods and mitigate waste. He made the company the leader in this business segment of the country.
Tan of Westwell said that his company’s AI and autonomous driving technologies and solutions have entered the market in 28 countries and regions, helping to revolutionize container logistics with AI-Empowed Digital and Intelligent Services.
According to Zhu, over the past 40 years, private companies in China have grown rapidly, with great opportunities in areas such as AI software development, new manufacturing, green development and the services industry. “I am very optimistic about the outlook for private companies in China.”
MNA/