Since the launch of reform and opening-up, China's private economy has evolved from infancy to prosperity, transitioning from "quantity expansion" to "quality enhancement." It has become 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, the high-quality development path of China's private economy faces challenges but is also brimming with opportunities and potential.
From the perspective of the development environment, promoting the growth and expansion of the private economy is China's consistent principle and a long-term strategy. 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, solidifying it as a cornerstone national policy. This top-level design has instilled stronger confidence and reassurance in private enterprises and entrepreneurs.
Furthermore, the third plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee emphasized the commitment 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. These efforts underscore the party and the state's unwavering resolve to harness the momentum of comprehensive reform to sustain the vibrant growth of the private economy.
In terms of development conditions, the 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.
In recent years, whether through the meteoric rise of the "new trio" of exports (new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products), the groundbreaking emergence of domestically developed artificial-intelligence models like DeepSeek, or the continuous innovations in smart logistics and cross-border e-commerce, "private economy" and "technology innovation" have become inseparable keywords.
Private enterprises transitioning from "exporting" to "globalizing" are now competing internationally with core technological capabilities embedded in their products. The facts demonstrate that innovation is not only a consensus but also an imperative for private enterprises to thrive. This will inject new, inexhaustible momentum into the high-quality development of China's private economy.
Regarding development trends, the private economy continues to exhibit 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 had 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. The private economy continues to be vibrant and booming.
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.
