Supporting the non-public economy

In the 1970s, farmers in some rural areas, desperate to remedy the lack of daily necessities and find work for surplus labor force, invented “an all-round contract system.” Residents in some cities also tried to set up their own small self-employed businesses. These voluntary actions won limited support from the central authorities.

After China began its reform and opening-up initiative, the CPC had a creative debate on the nature of socialism and how to build it, and allowed the non-public economy to grow. At its 13th National Congress in 1987, the Party decided to develop a market economy with central planning, with the public sector as the mainstay and the private sector as a necessary and beneficial supplement. In 1988 private enterprises found their legal status affirmed in the amendments to China’s Constitution, and for the first time they were included in official statistics in 1989. Deng Xiaoping provided the theoretical reasoning behind the private economy in his south tour talks in early 1992.

At its 15th National Congress, the CPC upgraded the “supplementary” status of the non-public sector to “an important component” of China’s socialist market economy. The 16th CPC National Congress committed to “consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy” and “encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public sector.” The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee confirmed that public and non-public sectors were both key components of the socialist market economy, and important bases for China’s economic and social development. The 19th CPC National Congress made further observations on supporting the development of the non-public sector in a new era.

During China’s 40 years of reform and opening up, the non-public sector has grown out of nothing and kept expanding, with a boom in private investment. By early 2018, the non-public sector was generating 60 percent of China’s GDP and more than 50 percent of its taxation, and providing 80 percent of total jobs.

支持非公有制經濟發展

20世紀70年代，面對居民日常必需品短缺和勞動力就業的壓力，部分農村群眾創造了“大包干”，部分城鎮居民也開始自謀職業。中央最初對于這種群眾自發創舉，采取了有限的支持政策。改革開放后，中國共產黨對“什么是社會主義、怎樣建設社會主義”進行了科學的、開創性探索，揭開了非公有制經濟發展的大幕。1987年，黨的十三大提出了以公有制為主體、大力發展有計劃的商品經濟，確認了私營經濟是公有制經濟必要的和有益的補充。1988年的憲法修正案中明確了私營企業的法律地位。1989年，私營企業第一次被納入官方統計數據。1992年年初，鄧小平發表南方談話，為發展非公有制經濟奠定了思想理論基礎。

黨的十五大提出，非公有制經濟是我國社會主義市場經濟的重要組成部分。非公有制經濟從社會主義經濟的“補充”上升為“重要組成部分”。黨的十六大提出,毫不動搖地鞏固和發展公有制經濟，毫不動搖地鼓勵、支持和引導非公有制經濟發展。黨的十八屆三中全會進一步明確提出，公有制經濟和非公有制經濟都是社會主義市場經濟的重要組成部分，都是我國經濟社會發展的重要基礎。黨的十九大就鼓勵支持非公有制經濟發展提出了許多新的重大論述,推動了非公有制經濟邁入發展的新時代。非公有制經濟在改革開放40年中由無到有、到發展壯大，相伴的是民間投資的快速增長。到2018年年初，非公經濟創造了80%左右的就業、60%左右的GDP、50%以上的稅收。