Speech by Xi Jinping at the Symposium on Private Enterprises on November 1, 2018

hello everyone! Today, we are holding this symposium to listen to everyone's opinions and suggestions on the economic development situation and the development of the private economy. First of all, I would like to extend my sincere greetings to all the private entrepreneurs present here and the vast number of private entrepreneurs across the country!

Just now, several representatives of private enterprises made speeches and put forward valuable opinions and suggestions. Relevant departments should carefully study and absorb them. Below, based on everyone's speeches and concerns, I would like to share some opinions.

China's non-public economy has developed under the guidance of the Party's policies and guidelines since the reform and opening up. The basic economic system with public ownership as the mainstay and multiple forms of ownership developing together is an important component of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and an inevitable requirement for improving the socialist market economy system. After the Third Plenary Session of the 10th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, our party broke free from the traditional constraints on ownership issues and opened the door for the development of the non-public economy.

In 1980, Zhang Huamei from Wenzhou received her first individual business license. By 1987, the number of employees in various industries such as urban individual businesses in China had reached 5.69 million, and a large number of private enterprises were flourishing. After Comrade Deng Xiaoping's Southern Speech in 1992, a new wave of entrepreneurship and development of the private economy emerged, and many well-known large private enterprises started during this period.

The 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China established "public ownership as the mainstay and the common development of various forms of ownership economy" as the basic economic system of China, and clearly stated that "non-public ownership economy is an important component of China's socialist market economy". The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to "unwaveringly consolidate and develop the public ownership economy" and "unwaveringly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public ownership economy". The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China further proposed to "unwaveringly encourage, support, and guide the development of non-public ownership economy, ensure that all types of ownership economy use production factors equally in accordance with the law, participate in market competition fairly, and receive equal legal protection".

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, I have repeatedly reiterated my commitment to the basic economic system and unwaveringly uphold the "two principles". The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed that both the public and non-public sectors of the economy are important components of the socialist market economy and the important foundation for China's economic and social development; The property rights of public ownership economy are inviolable, and the property rights of non-public ownership economy are equally inviolable; The state protects the property rights and legitimate interests of various forms of ownership in the economy, adheres to equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal rules, abolishes unreasonable regulations on various forms of non-public economy, eliminates various hidden barriers, and stimulates the vitality and creativity of non-public economy. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed to "improve the property rights protection system with fairness as the core principle, strengthen the protection of property rights of various ownership economic organizations and natural persons, and clean up laws and regulations that violate fairness". The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasized the need to encourage private enterprises to enter more fields in accordance with the law, introduce non-state-owned capital to participate in the reform of state-owned enterprises, and better stimulate the vitality and creativity of the non-public economy. The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has written the "two unwavering" principles into the basic strategy of adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, which has been further determined as a major policy of the Party and the country.

On March 4, 2016, during the Fourth Session of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), I delivered a speech specifically on the issue of adhering to China's basic economic system, clarifying the policies and guidelines of the Party and the state towards the private economy. The purpose of holding this meeting today is to brainstorm, strengthen confidence, and work together to maintain and enhance the good momentum of China's private economy development.

On October 20th of this year, I specifically wrote back to the commended private entrepreneurs in the "Ten Thousand Enterprises Helping Ten Thousand Villages" campaign regarding the development of the private economy. I emphasized that over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, private enterprises have flourished, and the private economy has grown from small to large and from weak to strong. It has played an important role in stabilizing growth, promoting innovation, increasing employment, improving people's livelihoods, and has become an important force in promoting economic and social development. Supporting the development of private enterprises is a consistent policy of the Party Central Committee, and this will not be shaken at all.

1、 Fully affirm the important position and role of China's private economy

This year marks the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up. Over the past 40 years, China's private economy has grown from small to large and from weak to strong, continuously developing and expanding. As of the end of 2017, the number of private enterprises in China exceeded 27 million, the number of individual industrial and commercial households exceeded 65 million, and the registered capital exceeded 16.5 trillion yuan. In summary, the private economy has the characteristics of "five six seven eight nine", which contribute more than 50% of tax revenue, more than 60% of GDP, more than 70% of technological innovation achievements, more than 80% of urban labor employment, and more than 90% of the number of enterprises. Among the Fortune Global 500 companies, the number of private enterprises in China has increased from 1 in 2010 to 28 in 2018. The private economy in China has become an indispensable force in promoting the country's development, a major field for entrepreneurship and employment, an important subject for technological innovation, and an important source of national tax revenue. It has played an important role in the development of China's socialist market economy, the transformation of government functions, the transfer of surplus rural labor, and the exploration of international markets. For a long time, the vast number of private entrepreneurs have organized and led millions of workers to work hard, embark on arduous entrepreneurship, and constantly innovate with the innovative consciousness of daring to be the first and the persistent spirit of struggle. The development of our country's economy can create the Chinese miracle, and the contribution of the private economy is indispensable!

Our party's viewpoint on adhering to the basic economic system is clear and consistent, and has never wavered. The public ownership economy in our country has been formed over a long period of national development, accumulating a large amount of wealth, which is the common wealth of all the people. It must be well preserved, utilized, and developed to continuously maintain and appreciate its value. We must not let a large amount of state-owned assets become idle, lost, or wasted. We promote the reform and development of state-owned enterprises, strengthen the supervision of state-owned assets, and punish corruption in the field of state-owned assets, all for this purpose. At the same time, we emphasize that consolidating and developing the public ownership economy is not opposed to encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public ownership economy, but is organically unified. The public ownership economy and non-public ownership economy should complement each other and complement each other, rather than mutually exclusive or offsetting each other.

For some time now, some people in society have made statements that negate and doubt the private economy. For example, some people propose the so-called "departure theory of private economy", saying that the private economy has completed its mission and wants to exit the historical stage; Some people propose the so-called 'new public-private partnership theory', misinterpreting the current mixed ownership reform as a new round of 'public-private partnership'; Some people say that strengthening enterprise party building and trade union work is necessary to control private enterprises, and so on. These statements are completely wrong and do not conform to the Party's major policies.

Here, I would like to emphasize once again that the position and role of the non-public economy in China's economic and social development have not changed! Our unwavering policy of encouraging, supporting, and guiding the development of the non-public economy has not changed! Our policy of creating a favorable environment and providing more opportunities for the development of the non-public economy has not changed! The basic economic system of our country has been written into the Constitution and Party Constitution, which will not change and cannot be changed. Any words or actions that negate, doubt, or shake the basic economic system of our country are not in line with the policies of the Party and the state. Do not listen or believe them! All private enterprises and entrepreneurs can take the reassurance pill and seek development with peace of mind!

In short, the basic economic system is a system that we must adhere to in the long run. The private economy is an inherent element of China's economic system, and private enterprises and entrepreneurs are our own people. The private economy is an important achievement of the development of the socialist market economy, an important force to promote the development of the socialist market economy, an important subject to promote supply side structural reform, high-quality development, and the construction of a modern economic system, and an important force for our party to achieve the "two centenary goals" and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. In the new journey of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way, and then building a socialist modern country in an all-round way, the private economy of our country can only grow, not weaken, not only can't "leave the scene," but also should move to a broader stage.

2、 Correctly understand the difficulties and problems encountered in the current development of the private economy

Recently, some private enterprises have encountered many difficulties and problems in their business development. Some private entrepreneurs describe them as encountering "three mountains": the iceberg of the market, the mountain of financing, and the volcano of transformation. These difficulties and problems are caused by multiple contradictions, including external and internal factors, objective and subjective reasons.