China's private economy has undergone a remarkable transformation since the launch of reform and opening-up. Evolving from its early stages to a thriving sector, it has shifted its focus from \"quantity expansion\" to \"quality enhancement.\"
Today, the private sector is a vital component of China's socialist market economy, playing a pivotal role in stabilizing employment, contributing to tax revenue, driving innovation, and promoting common prosperity.
The year 2025 marks the conclusion of the 14th Five-Year Plan and serves as a critical juncture for laying the groundwork for the 15th Five-Year Plan. Amid increasingly complex international competition and new demands for domestic economic transformation, China's private economy faces both challenges and opportunities on its path to high-quality development.
Promoting the growth and expansion of the private economy remains a consistent principle and long-term strategy for China. The 19th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress incorporated the \"two unwaverings\"—unwavering support for both public-owned and non-public-owned sectors—into the fundamental strategies for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era. This solidified the private sector as a cornerstone national policy, instilling stronger confidence and reassurance in private enterprises and entrepreneurs.
Further emphasizing this commitment, the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee highlighted the dedication to creating a favorable environment and expanding opportunities for the non-public-owned sector. Recently, the draft of the Private Sector Promotion Law completed another round of public consultation and is set for a second review, underscoring the party and state's unwavering resolve to sustain the vibrant growth of the private economy through comprehensive reforms.
In terms of development conditions, China's private economy possesses a solid foundation for innovation-driven high-quality development. Achieving this requires cultivating \"new quality productive forces\" tailored to local conditions, timing, and enterprise characteristics, as well as fostering innovation and digital empowerment.
Recent advancements include the meteoric rise of the \"new trio\" of exports—new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products—the emergence of domestically developed artificial intelligence models like DeepSeek, and continuous innovations in smart logistics and cross-border e-commerce. These developments make \"private economy\" and \"technology innovation\" inseparable keywords for China's future growth.
Private enterprises are transitioning from \"exporting\" to \"globalizing,\" now competing internationally with core technological capabilities embedded in their products. Innovation is not only a consensus but also an imperative for these enterprises to thrive, injecting new, inexhaustible momentum into the high-quality development of China's private economy.
The future trends of China's private economy continue to show robust vitality and upward momentum. Private enterprises account for over 90 percent of all businesses in China, and their growth rate serves as a barometer of market dynamism.
By the end of September 2024, the total number of private economic entities in China exceeded 180 million, marking a year-on-year increase of 3.93 percent. Among them, there were over 55.54 million private enterprises, representing a year-on-year increase of six percent. In 2024, China's private enterprises achieved \"three firsts\" in foreign trade: the number of enterprises engaged in import-export activities surpassed 600,000 for the first time; they became the largest contributors to high-tech product trade; and their share in consumer goods trade exceeded 50 percent. These milestones reflect the \"dual improvement\" in scale and quality of the private economy's global engagement, signaling accelerating momentum in high-quality development.
China's vast domestic market, coupled with the accelerated development of a unified national market and the implementation of comprehensive reforms, will further expand the demand space for the private economy, optimize innovation conditions, and strengthen institutional safeguards. These factors will create an increasingly favorable environment for the private economy to serve as a driving force in advancing Chinese modernization, steadfastly cultivating \"new quality productive forces\" through innovation to pursue high-quality development.
The future of China's private economy is bright and holds immense promise.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
