Zhang Jin: Promoting High-Quality Development of the Private Economy with Innovation as the Leading Force
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized at the Symposium on Private Enterprises that the vast array of private enterprises and entrepreneurs "must unswervingly follow the path of high-quality development, remain committed to their main business, strengthen the real economy [1], enhance independent innovation, transform development modes, and continuously improve corporate quality, efficiency, and core competitiveness. They should strive to make greater contributions to promoting technological innovation, cultivating new quality productive forces, building a modern industrial system, comprehensively advancing rural revitalization, promoting coordinated regional development, and ensuring and improving people's livelihoods." Since the Reform and Opening-up [2], the private economy has played an important role in economic and social development through its powerful innovative vitality. In the future, as policies continue to exert their influence and the market environment is continuously optimized, the private economy will surely make even greater contributions to independent innovation, the cultivation of new quality productive forces, and the promotion of high-quality development.
I
China's private enterprises have flourished alongside the great journey of Reform and Opening-up. For decades, the private economy has performed invaluable service [3] in promoting innovative development.
Private enterprises are accelerating the enhancement of the international influence of "Intelligent Manufacturing in China." Private enterprises are an important pillar of China's foreign trade. Since 2019, they have become China's largest category of foreign trade entities, with their international competitiveness continuously rising. In particular, the "innovation content" of private enterprise exports is steadily increasing, with high-tech products accelerating their journey overseas. Exports of electric vehicles, 3D printers, and industrial robots grew by 13.1%, 32.8%, and 45.2% year-on-year, respectively, while the proportion of self-owned brands rose to 21.8%. Along with the continuous improvement of the innovation capabilities of private enterprises, "Chic China" [4] domestic brands are creating a "Chinese Wind" [5] across the globe.
Private enterprises are helping China transition from an innovation "catcher-up" to an innovation "leader." Private enterprises play an active and important role in promoting international scientific and technological cooperation. From facilitating the global green transition and making e-commerce inclusive for world users, to tech companies utilizing "low cost + high performance + open source" strategies to attract global developers for technical iteration, private enterprises are gradually moving from being global "technology applicants" to "achievement sharers." They are helping China move from being a "technology imitator" to becoming a "source of global innovation."
Private enterprises play a key role in cultivating and developing new quality productive forces. Private enterprises have demonstrated strong innovation capabilities and market vitality in key fields such as technological innovation, the digital economy, and the green economy, effectively promoting the high-end, intelligent, and green development of industries. Especially in strategic emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, new energy, and biomedicine, private enterprises are gradually becoming the key force for industrial innovation and development. This is the result of China promoting the deep integration of scientific and technological innovation with industrial innovation, and it is a vivid manifestation of the resilience and creativity of China's economy.
II
Currently, the environment for the innovative development of China's private enterprises is becoming increasingly favorable, possessing multiple advantages in terms of policy, markets, and talent.
Policy support is an important prerequisite for private enterprises to achieve innovative development. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC [6], the state has introduced a series of policies to support the development of private enterprises, including tax and fee reductions, preferential loans, and entrepreneurship support, providing a favorable environment for their growth.
Following the release of the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Promoting the Development and Growth of the Private Economy" in July 2023, various regions and departments have intensively introduced a series of policy measures. As reform measures such as the construction of a unified national market and the market-based allocation of production factors [7] continue to take root and yield results, the innovative development of private enterprises has entered a new stage, and will certainly make greater contributions to the advancement of Chinese-path modernization.
New supply and new demand provide vast room for the growth of private enterprises. China's economic foundation is stable, its advantages are numerous, its resilience is strong, and its potential is vast. A powerful domestic demand market of over 1.4 billion people, including a middle-income group of over 400 million, provides broad application scenario support for the rapid iteration of technology by private enterprises. A new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation has brought new opportunities for private enterprises to accelerate innovation and upgrading. The continuous emergence of innovative achievements in fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, and life sciences, along with the continuous improvement of the overall efficiency of China's innovation system, all provide broader space for private enterprises to achieve innovative development.
A steady stream of talent resources provides strong support for private enterprises to achieve innovative development. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in 2023, the average years of education for China's working-age population rose to 11.05 years. The number of annual graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) exceeds 5 million. China's total talent resources, scientific and technological human resources, and total R&D personnel all rank first in the world. The "population dividend" is rapidly transforming into a "talent dividend." The large reserve of excellent scientific research talent provides powerful support for the technological innovation activities of private enterprises.
Entrepreneurship strongly drives technological change in private enterprises. China's private entrepreneurs possess strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovation capabilities. With keen market insight and a sense of perseverance and risk-taking, they focus on scientific R&D and technical innovation, continuously introducing new products, technologies, and services. They actively explore new business fields to meet market demand, driving market development and industrial transformation, and continuously improving their competitiveness and contribution to society in a highly competitive market.
III
Solidly implementing various policy measures to promote the innovative development of the private economy is the current focus of work to help private enterprises better achieve innovative development.
Further create a favorable environment for the development of private enterprises. Resolutely remove various obstacles that prevent private enterprises from using production factors in accordance with the law and participating fairly in market competition. Continuously promote the fair opening of competitive fields in infrastructure to all types of business entities. Guide private economic organizations to strengthen basic and frontier research, develop key core technologies, common foundational technologies, and frontier cross-disciplinary technologies in accordance with national strategic needs, industrial development trends, and the frontiers of global science and technology. Encourage the creation of new industries, new models, and new drivers through technological innovation. Support capable private enterprises in undertaking major national science and technology projects and taking the lead in research tasks in fields such as industrial software, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, industrial internet, gene and cell therapy, and new energy storage.
Further resolve the issues of difficulty and high cost of financing for private enterprises. Improve the policy system for financing support for private enterprises, and improve the market-based mechanism for sharing financing risks with the participation of banks, insurance, guarantees, and brokerages. Improve the credit rating and evaluation system for small, medium, and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households. Strengthen the collection of credit information related to enterprises and support eligible private enterprises in listing for financing and re-financing. Guide non-profit foundations to provide legal funding for private economic organizations to carry out basic research, frontier technology research, and social public welfare technology research.
Strengthen the application and promotion of achievements and the protection of intellectual property rights. Increase the intensity of government procurement of innovative products, leverage the role of the insurance compensation mechanism for the first unit (set) of major technical equipment, and support the iterative application of innovative products from private enterprises. Support private economic organizations in carrying out application trials for new technologies, products, services, and models. Utilize the roles of technology markets and intermediary service agencies to promote the application and promotion of technological achievements through intellectual property pledges and venture capital. Strengthen the protection of original innovation by private economic organizations and their operators, and punish illegal acts such as infringement of trademarks, patents, and copyrights, as well as infringement of trade secrets and counterfeit confusion according to law. Strengthen coordination among regions and departments for intellectual property protection, and provide private economic organizations with diversified dispute resolution for intellectual property, assistance in safeguarding rights, and guidance and risk early warning for responding to overseas intellectual property disputes.
(Author: Zhang Jin, Researcher at the Xi Jinping Academy of Economic Thought) Source: Guangming Daily (February 25, 2025, Page 11) Online Editor: Hui Hui