Fresh impetus for China's private sector

At a recent key high-level meeting, China resolved to foster a business-friendly environment and create more opportunities for the private sector. This, said government officials and industry experts, will boost the private sector's confidence and ensure advanced productivity for future economic growth.

Their remarks emerged after the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China this month resolved to further deepen reforms comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization.

Han Wenxiu, executive deputy director of the Office of the Central Committee for Financial and Economic Affairs, said at a news conference in mid-July that as per the resolution, China will enhance the long-term mechanism for private companies to participate in major national projects.

The country will also support capable private enterprises in leading national initiatives to make breakthroughs in major technologies and provide private enterprises with greater access to major national scientific research infrastructure, he said.

"As the rule of law offers the best business environment, China will formulate and introduce a private sector promotion law," he said, adding that more efforts will also be made to remove barriers to market access, so that the competitive areas of infrastructure are open to market entities in a fair manner.

Liu Junhai, a professor and head of commercial law at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, said: "The private economy itself is a symbol of advanced productivity, and encouraging the development of the private economy will inject new productivity into economic growth in a timely manner.

"A proposed new law on driving the private economy, for instance, aims to provide private enterprises with a more stable, transparent, fair, safe and predictable legal business environment. Such a business environment itself will help promote more productivity as well."

Elaborating, Liu said that promoting the nation's private economy should drive the equal status, common development, fair competition, mutual cooperation, equal supervision and equal protection for private enterprises, so that they can participate in market competition openly, fairly and justly.

CITIC Securities also predicted that China is expected to launch more detailed policies in treating State-owned enterprises and private enterprises equally from an institutional and legal perspective.