Implementation of policies crucial to beef up performance of private sector

Be it at the constitutional, legal, regulatory or practical level, there should be no doubt any longer about the indispensability of the private sector to the overall national economy, as major job creators, innovators and taxpayers.

In the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the ruling Party of the world's second-largest economy vowed to build "a high-standard socialist market economy", and to that end it pledges to "unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the nonpublic sector" and let the market play "the decisive role in resource allocation".

A series of laws and policies have accordingly been rolled out to "provide an enabling environment for private enterprises, protect their property rights and the rights and interests of entrepreneurs in accordance with the law, and facilitate the growth of the private sector". Many concrete actions have been taken to improve the modern corporate system, encourage entrepreneurship, and help Chinese companies become world-class. China's comprehensive national strength, deepened reforms, and sci-tech have provided the foundation, impetus and opportunities for the growth of the private sector.

However, the private sector still faces challenges regarding market access, allocation of resources, financing and investment, and supply of services. And the increasing uncertainties and risks of the external environment and the mounting downward pressure on the economy at home further highlight the urgency with which the country's policymakers should help the private sector to resolve its challenges.

In that sense, the symposium, between the Chinese leadership and some representatives of private enterprise owners that President Xi Jinping presided over in Beijing on Monday, represents the latest endeavor of the country to beef up the performance of its private sector at a time when its roles connecting production and consumption, research and development, financing and investment, are sorely needed by China and the world. The symposium provided both sides with a valuable opportunity for face-to-face communication, allowing the representatives of the private sector to voice their concerns directly to the country's leadership.

The important remarks Xi made in the symposium should serve to consolidate the market's confidence in the central authorities' resolve and ability to invigorate the growth of the private sector. As Xi said, the challenges faced by the private sector are local rather than overall, temporary rather than long-term, and can be overcome rather than being unsolvable.

President Xi stressed the importance of maintaining policy consistency and stability, and ensuring that policies aimed at supporting the private sector are implemented without compromise. Relevant authorities should resolutely remove all obstacles to the equal use of production factors and fair participation in market competition in accordance with the law, continue to promote the fair opening up of competitive infrastructure fields to various business entities, and continue to make great efforts to solve the problems private enterprises face in securing finance and the high cost of doing so.

On their part, private enterprises should improve their corporate governance structures in accordance with the requirements of the modern enterprise system, and seek to play a greater role in promoting the country's self-reliance in high tech.

That there were some new faces of entrepreneurs at the symposium, including those born in the 1990s whose start-ups have proven their potential in many cutting-edge fields, reflects the strong endogenous power of China's innovation system and the passing down of the entrepreneurship from the old to the new generation. The headwinds it has encountered have only served to stimulate the country to foster endogenous innovation.

The top-down decisions and guidance should be the stimulus for different departments at various levels to form workable and pertinent solutions to help private enterprises overcome the difficulties they face.