Zhejiang Daily:

I have several questions regarding the private economy. First, I would like to know how the private economy is developing now. Second, as a specialized agency dedicated to promoting the growth and development of the private economy, what specific challenges has the Private Economic Development Bureau solved so far? Last, I would like to know about the next steps to boost the development prospects and confidence of the private economy. Thank you.

Yuan Da:

Thank you for your questions. In the first quarter of this year, the development of the private economy got off to a good start, with positive trends in key indicators. First, the growth rate of industrial production has accelerated. In the first quarter, the value added of private industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 5.4% year on year, an acceleration of 3.4 percentage points compared to the same period last year. In the first two months, the profits of these enterprises increased by 12.7%, which was 2.5 percentage points faster than the overall profit growth rate of industrial enterprises above designated size. Second, the potential for private investment continues to be unleashed. In the first quarter, private investment increased by 0.5%, with the growth rate accelerating by 0.1 percentage point compared to the previous two months. Excluding investment in real estate development, private investment increased by 7.7%, with private investment in manufacturing growing by 11.9% and infrastructure private investment growing by 8.1%. Third, the foreign trade growth rate for private enterprises was significantly faster than the overall level. In the first quarter, imports and exports of private enterprises, denominated in yuan, increased by 10.7%, which was 5.7 percentage points faster than the overall import and export growth rate, accounting for 54.3% of the total. Among them, the growth rates of exports and imports of private enterprises were faster than the overall growth rates by 4.8 and 7.8 percentage points, respectively.

At the same time, we are also aware that the development of private enterprises still faces some difficulties. The NDRC, along with relevant parties, is fully committed to addressing the urgent and pressing issues faced by private enterprises. On the one hand, we are strengthening vertical coordination. We have established a mechanism for regular communication and problem-solving with private enterprises. We have mobilized development and reform departments at the national, provincial, municipal, and county levels to regularly collect, address, provide feedback on, and track the effectiveness of issues reported by private enterprises, striving to ensure that private enterprises genuinely benefit from our efforts. On the other hand, we are strengthening horizontal coordination. We have established an interdepartmental joint meeting mechanism to promote the growth and development of the private economy, collaborating with 42 departments and units to address issues. As of the end of March this year, the NDRC had collected the demands and suggestions of private enterprises through various channels. After deducting duplicates and unverified information, we have collected approximately 560 items, with about 300 items having been processed and further tracked for effectiveness. Our goal is to resolve a category of problems that will benefit a group of enterprises and support an entire industry.

We recently organized a national conference on optimizing the business environment and the first plenary session of the Inter-ministerial Joint Conference on Promoting the Development of the Private Economy, outlining the major tasks for 2024. Next, the NDRC will further intensify its efforts and coordinate its work, focusing on three aspects. First, we will strengthen laws and regulations. We will accelerate the legislative process of the law to support the development of the private sector , and continue to improve the mechanism for working unswervingly both to consolidate and develop the public sector and to encourage, support, and guide development of the non-public sector. Efforts will be made to accelerate the legal and institutional arrangements to ensure the equal treatment of state-owned and private enterprises, in order to give full play to the role of the rule of law in consolidating governance foundations, ensuring stable expectations and bringing long-term benefits . Second, we will effectively address problems facing enterprises. We will make the best use of the comprehensive service platform for developing the private economy. We will make concerted efforts to establish a closed-loop system for collecting information, addressing issues that have been identified, providing feedback and monitoring the outcomes of actions. We will intensify coordinated efforts to resolve common issues and prominent problems that hinder the development of the private economy, and ensure the safety, protection, stability and benefits of enterprises. Third, we will continue to create a favorable environment. We will put in place a mechanism for regular government-business communication, organize regular on-site meetings to support the growth of the private economy, and thoroughly implement the plan for nurturing prominent figures in the private economy in the new era. Efforts will also be made to review and promote experiences for boosting the high-quality development of the private economy across the country and actively creating a favorable environment for supporting the growth of the private economy. Thank you.