Editor's Note: Last week, a symposium for private enterprises was held in Beijing. Following the meeting, what practical and feasible policies will be introduced to support the private economy, and will the private sector be able to enter a fast track for development?
【Anchor】Hello everyone, welcome to DDN Business Insider. I am Yunfei Zhang. Last week, a symposium for private enterprises was held in Beijing. Following the meeting, what practical and feasible policies will be introduced to support the private economy, and will the private sector be able to enter a fast track for development? To discuss these topics, we have invited Fu Yifu, a senior researcher from Star Atlas Research Institute of Finance, and Ren Xinglei, the executive president of the China Association for Small & Medium Commercial Enterprises, to provide their insights and analysis. Hello, everyone!
The day after the symposium for private enterprises, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced that China will further eliminate market entry barriers, implement targeted measures to address the difficulties faced by private enterprises, enhance efforts to resolve overdue payments owed to private firms and accelerate the promotion of private economic development. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) stated that it will guide small and medium-sized enterprises along a path of high-quality development from five aspects: ecological empowerment, innovation empowerment, digital enablement, talent empowerment, and service empowerment.
【Anchor】Regarding private enterprises, Mr. Ren, could you please share your insights on the specific difficulties faced by private SMEs and how these relate to the measures mentioned by the NDRC and MIIT?
Private SMEs face three main challenges: namely, invisible barriers to market entry, liquidity pressure, and high costs of digital transformation. In response to these issues, the NDRC, MIIT, and other departments have formulated systematic solutions. First, regarding market entry and fair competition, the NDRC plans to revise the negative list for market access, strictly implement non-restricted records, and continue to open infrastructure and research facilities to private enterprises, ensuring a level playing field from an institutional perspective. Second, concerning overdue payments and financial pressure, SMEs generally face long cycles of collection and tight cash flow. To address this issue, the MIIT emphasized the need to improve a long-term mechanism for clearing overdue payments and protect enterprise rights through legal means. Meanwhile, the NDRC will enhance efforts to resolve overdue payments and alleviate the financial pressure on SMEs. Third, regarding innovation capacity and digital transformation bottlenecks, SMEs are limited by technical talent and financial resources, making digital transformation costly and challenging. To address this, the MIIT proposed a specialized action for digital enablement, providing technical support through a national network for SME services, and supporting patent-focused enterprises to undertake national research tasks, thereby promoting technological breakthroughs and practical applications.
【Anchor】Good. Based on the specifics mentioned by the NDRC, what approach do you think reflects support for the private economy, and how does it differ from past expressions?
It reflects the foresight of policymakers in grasping economic rhythms before the National People's Congress (NPC). Compared to the past, the new expressions show three breakthroughs: First, from equal market entry to fair participation, placing greater emphasis on the substantive role of private enterprises in major projects; second, from protecting rights to regulating governance, proposing to advance the legislative process to promote the private economy, reflecting the integrity of market rules; third, from single-point relief to ecological optimization, addressing not only issues like financing difficulties and overdue payments but also resolutely combating online defamation, strengthening the construction of a high-quality representation of private economy representatives, and implementing a new era plan for nurturing and empowering private economic figures, thereby enhancing the comprehensive capabilities and long-term development potential of private enterprises in market competition.
【Anchor】This is the first symposium for private enterprises in seven years. Some analysts believe that holding this symposium before the NPC indicates that the government work report will emphasize the private economy. The NDRC and MIIT's series of statements seem to suggest that support for the private economy has already been initiated. What are your thoughts on this issue, Mr. Fu?
This time, we see that the NDRC's statements reflect several key ideas. First, it aims to create a fair market environment for development by revising the negative list for market access, breaking down some of the unfair treatment that private enterprises encounter in the market. This also allows private enterprises to engage in fair competition and development alongside other types of enterprises, and to enable them to gain more equal market opportunities.
【Anchor】What can we expect from the NPC regarding its emphasis on the private economy?
In the upcoming NPC, there will certainly be specific work arrangements focused on the development of the private economy and private enterprises. I believe the areas worth looking forward to would include addressing the difficulties and challenges faced by the private economy and enterprises and providing further detailed guidelines. For example, we need to fully leverage the decisive role of the market in resource allocation while better utilizing government assistance and guidance. By constructing a fair, just, legal, and international business environment, we can support the development of private enterprises. Also, we should also continue to support the growth of small and micro enterprises since they are an important part of the private economy and continue to face challenges like financing difficulties and high operational pressures. I believe we need to provide further assistance to small and micro enterprises through tax reductions, fee reductions, subsidies, and increased financial innovation to improve their current development challenges and restore their confidence in growth and operations. Additionally, we should stabilize the development expectations of private enterprises and ensure that all market entities are treated equally, while protecting the legal rights of entrepreneurs to inspire and promote entrepreneurial spirit.
【Anchor】Mr. Ren just mentioned that this meeting signifies positivity before the NPC. What are your expectations for the NPC?
Currently, many private enterprises are at a critical stage of transformation and upgrading, facing multiple pressures from high costs, market fluctuations, and technological iterations. There is an unprecedented urgent expectation for policy support from the NPC.
The policies expected to be unveiled at the upcoming NPC will focus on three major directions: First, a substantial simplification of the negative list for market access, especially expanding investment space for private enterprises in data factors and new infrastructure; second, continuous innovation of financial support tools, such as establishing special refinancing and improving intellectual property rights to alleviate financing difficulties for innovative SMEs; and third, accelerating legislative processes to urge local governments and state-owned enterprises to fulfill their responsibilities, solidifying the equal protection of policies into legal obligations, and providing private enterprises with a stable legal expectation.
【Anchor】Another widely discussed issue is the noticeable increase in the proportion of entrepreneurs from internet and technology companies participating in the private enterprise symposium. Notable figures such as Jack Ma, Pony Ma, Lei Jun, as well as Wang Xing Xing from Unitree and Liang Wenfeng, the founder of DeepSeek, were on the guest list. This indicates that the government is currently supporting technology-driven private enterprises. The success of DeepSeek and the blockbuster hit of "Ne Zha 2" also illustrates that private enterprises are playing an important role in technological innovation. I would like to ask Mr. Fu, what do you think are the reasons for private enterprises have managed to achieve breakthroughs in these fields?
I believe the most important point is that the private economy and private enterprises are the main drivers of innovation. According to the theory of the famous American economist Joseph Schumpeter, innovation is primarily driven by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs introduce new combinations of production factors and conditions into a new production system, aiming to gain more profits and achieve a better competitive position in the market. This continuous innovation and accumulation from countless micro-enterprises drives overall economic development. Private enterprises are always at the forefront of the market; they are the first to receive changes in market information and are highly sensitive to market demands and information. Moreover, the instinct to survive and earn more profit, which includes the urgency of responding to market competition, in fact provides private enterprises with sufficient motivation to continuously improve production techniques and enhance management levels. They are also committed to enriching product varieties and improving product quality in line with market changes, thereby driving industrial upgrading. This is, in fact, the fundamental logic behind the continuous innovation of private enterprises.
【Anchor】Now, Mr. Ren, from an industry practitioner's perspective, what do you think is the key to private enterprises "running ahead" in the field of technological innovation?
I believe that private enterprises becoming a driving force in technological innovation stems from the dual push of national strategic guidance and internal market dynamics, which can be described as a combination of favorable timing, geographical advantages, and human factors. In terms of timing, China's economy is shifting from factor-driven to innovation-driven, with national strategic security needs rising from technological self-reliance, providing clear innovation direction for private enterprises. For example, measures such as "deregulation and delegation of authority" and allowing private enterprises to directly participate in national-level public relations projects have broken the previous internal circulation of scientific research resources within the system. Geographically, China's unique super-large market serves as an experimental ground for innovation; the massive data generated by its 1.4 billion population empowers AI companies to iterate algorithms rapidly and improves the industrial chain, significantly shortening the design to mass production cycle for hardware innovations. In terms of human factors, the annual influx of over ten million university graduates creates a talent reservoir for R&D.
【Anchor】With policy support added, do you think the relevant fields will enter a phase of rapid growth in the next 5 to 10 years?
We believe that relevant fields will likely enter a phase of rapid growth in the next 5 to 10 years. Driven by the dual engines of the digital economy and low-carbon economy, private technology companies will experience a structural explosion, especially in areas like digital technology, AI computing power, biopharmaceuticals, and green energy. These sectors benefit from the national strategic orientation and the advantages of private enterprises being flexible in mechanisms and highly sensitive to market demands. As the data factor market is optimized and the improvement of scientific innovation financing system, the hidden champions in niche areas will continue to emerge among private enterprises. It is expected that in the next 5 to 10 years, growth momentum is expected to maintain double-digit rates, becoming a key increment in the global industrial chain.
【Anchor】Finally, regarding our observations, as previously mentioned, the dual dynamics of domestic and international markets, the recent success of "Ne Zha 2" and DeepSeek is almost simultaneous in facing development opportunities in both areas. DeepSeek gained recognition in Silicon Valley before being discussed domestically. What does this change signify for enterprises, product exports, and industry development?
This change brings revolutionary transformations to product exports and industry development. This resonance between domestic and international markets signifies that Chinese private enterprises are transitioning from merely following the trend of going abroad to defining standards, entering a 2.0 phase of globalization. This has three important implications for enterprise industries and national development: First, there is a fundamental shift in innovation logic; our enterprises must root themselves in a rapidly evolving domestic market while facing high international technical standards. Second, there is a historic leap in the status of the industrial chain; more enterprises are beginning to participate in the formulation of domestic standards, shifting from passive acceptance to actively defining rules, marking a historic transformation. Third, development momentum will undergo a systematic upgrade; traditional advantages such as population dividends and cost advantages are being transformed into engineer talent dividends and data-driven dividend. Through the nurturing of the domestic market and the tempering of international competition, enterprises are gradually establishing new competitive dynamics characterized by technological barriers and ecosystem dominance, injecting lasting power into high-market development.
As more and more small and medium enterprises succeed in cultivating innovative outcomes domestically, applying them to international markets, and then bringing back upgraded technologies from global experiences. Once this virtuous cycle is established,, the resilience of China's economy will be deeply embedded within the global innovation network.
【Anchor】OK, thank you. That's all for this episode. Remember to follow us on YouTube or download our APP. I'm Yunfei Zhang, thanks for watching, and see you next time.
Anchor: Laura Cheung | Edited: Kelly Yang, Laura Cheung | Translate: Kato Ip | Proofread: Chris Liu
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