Global Times｜Chinese lawmakers deliberate draft private sector promotion law; move to boost businesses' innovation-driven growth: expert
China's top legislature started deliberating the draft private sector promotion law on Sunday, with an aim to promote the sustainable and sound development of the private economy, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.
The draft law was submitted to the ongoing session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) following the initial and second readings in December 2024 and February 2025, respectively, according to Xinhua.
The formulation of the law is both very necessary and significant as it will elevate the major policies and measures adopted by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China regarding the development of the private economy into legal norms, thereby consolidating the country's achievements on the development of private economy over the last more than 40 years since the reform and opening-up, Xinhua reported.
This legislation will explicitly define the legal status of the private economy for the first time, with a clear stipulation that it will be a significant and long-term policy for China to promote the sustainable, healthy, and high-quality development of the private economy, according to Xinhua.
The draft law shows that China attaches great importance to supporting the development of the private economy, especially during the innovation-driven growth phase, where the private sector holds vast potential, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin School of Administration, told the Global Times on Monday.
Cong said that the draft legislation underwent extensive consultations across various sectors, reflecting the emphasis on incorporating opinions and suggestions from private enterprises and entrepreneurs.
During the drafting and deliberation process of the draft, lawmakers solicited public opinions through 54 legislative outreach offices and gathered wide feedback from private enterprises in various sectors, representing a vivid practice of implementing whole-process people's democracy in legislative work, according to the members of the NPC Standing Committee.
Noting that the draft has fully incorporated suggestions and opinions from various sectors, they recommended that it be passed during this session of the NPC Standing Committee and called for related authorities to unveil concrete measures to ensure its adoption, according to Xinhua.
Amid external uncertainties, it is important to boost the confidence of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises, especially those in the trade sector, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the Digital-Real Economies Integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Monday, noting the significant role of private enterprises in contributing to the country's economic development as well as providing job opportunities.
Also on Monday, the National Energy Administration said that China has introduced new measures to accelerate the development of the private economy in the energy sector and guide private enterprises to play a greater role in advancing the green, low-carbon transition of the industry.
Measures include those that support private enterprises in investing in and building energy infrastructure projects such as hydropower facilities, oil and gas storage facilities, and liquefied natural gas terminals, as well as those that encourage private investment in emerging areas like new-energy storage, virtual power plants, charging infrastructure and smart microgrids, according to a circular released by the administration.
Private enterprises will be encouraged to participate actively in the energy sector's major technological innovation, and to accelerate their transformation and upgrading, according to the circular.
China's private sector showed strong resilience in the first quarter of 2025, with new business registrations rising steadily, according to a report released by the State Administration for Market Regulation on April 21.
In the first quarter, 1.979 million new private enterprises were registered, up 7.1 percent year-on-year and exceeding the average growth rate of the past three years. As of the end of March, the number of registered private enterprises surpassed 57 million, accounting for 92.3 percent of all businesses nationwide, according to the report.
New quality productive forces have become a highlight for China's private sector. In the first quarter, 836,000 new private firms were registered in the "four new economies" - new technologies, industries, business formats and models, accounting for more than 40 percent of new private enterprises.