Speech at the private enterprise symposium

(November 1, 2018)

Xi Jinping

Hello everyone!Today,we are holding this symposium to listen to your opinions and suggestions on the economic development situation and the development of private economy.First of all,I would like to extend my sincere greetings to all the private entrepreneurs present here and to all the private entrepreneurs in China!

Just now,several representatives of private enterprises made statements and put forward many valuable suggestions,which should be carefully studied and absorbed by relevant departments.Now,I would like to make a few comments based on your statements and concerns.

China's non-public economy has developed under the guidance of the Party's principles and policies since the reform and opening up.The basic economic system,with public ownership as the main body and multiple ownership economies developing together,is an important part of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics and an inevitable requirement for improving the socialist market economic system.After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China(CPC),our Party broke the shackles of traditional concepts on ownership and opened the door to the development of the non-public economy.In 1980,Zhang Huamei in Wenzhou received a business license for self-employed businesses.By 1987,the number of urban self-employed workers in various industries had reached 5.69 million,and a large number of private enterprises had flourished.After Comrade Deng Xiaoping's South Talk was published in 1992,a new round of upsurge of entrepreneurship and development of private economy emerged.Many famous large private enterprises started in this period.

The 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China established"public ownership as the main body and the common development of diversified ownership economies"as the basic economic system of China,and clearly stated that"non-public economy is an important part of China's socialist market economy".At the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC),it was proposed to"unswervingly consolidate and develop the public sector of the economy"and"unswervingly encourage,support and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy".The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China further proposed that"we will unswervingly encourage,support and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy,and ensure that all sectors of the economy use the factors of production equally according to law,participate in market competition fairly,and are equally protected by law".

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC),I have repeatedly reiterated my commitment to the basic economic system and the"two unswerving principles".The Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed that both the public economy and the non-public economy are important components of the socialist market economy,and are important foundations for China's economic and social development;The property right of the public economy is inviolable,as is the property right of the non-public economy;The state protects the property rights and legitimate interests of the economy under all forms of ownership,adheres to the principle of equal rights,equal opportunities and equal rules,abolishes unreasonable regulations on various forms of the non-public economy,eliminates various hidden barriers,and stimulates the vitality and creativity of the non-public economy.The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee proposed to"improve the property rights protection system with fairness as the core principle,strengthen the protection of the property rights of economic organizations and natural persons with various ownership,and clear up the laws and regulations that violate fairness".The Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee emphasized that we should"encourage private enterprises to enter more fields according to 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".At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China,"two unswervingly"was written into the basic strategy of adhering to and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era,which was further determined as a major policy of the Party and the country.

On March 4,2016,when I participated in the joint group meeting of the members of the civil construction and the federation of industry and commerce at the fourth session of the 12th CPPCC National Committee,I delivered a speech on adhering to China's basic economic system,clarifying the Party's and the country's guidelines and policies on private economy.The purpose of this meeting today is to pool ideas,strengthen confidence and work together to maintain and enhance the sound momentum of China's private economy.

On October 20 this year,I wrote back to the private entrepreneurs who were praised in the"Ten Thousand Enterprises Helping Ten Thousand Villages"campaign on the development of the private economy,emphasizing that since the reform and opening up 40 years ago,private enterprises have flourished,and the private economy has grown from small to large,from weak to strong.It has played an important role in stabilizing growth,promoting innovation,increasing employment,improving people's livelihood,and has become an important force in promoting economic and social development.It is the consistent policy of the Party Central Committee to support the development of private enterprises,which will never waver.

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,from weak to strong,and has been growing steadily.By the end of 2017,the number of private enterprises in China had exceeded 27 million,the number of self-employed businesses had exceeded 65 million,and the registered capital had exceeded 165 trillion yuan.To sum up,the private economy has the characteristics of"56789",that is,it contributes more than 50%of taxes,more than 60%of GDP,more than 70%of technological innovation achievements,more than 80%of urban labor employment,and more than 90%of enterprises.Among the world's top 500 enterprises,China's private enterprises increased from one in 2010 to 28 in 2018.China's private economy has become an indispensable force to promote China's development,a major field of entrepreneurship and employment,an important subject of technological innovation,and an important source of national taxes.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 international market development.For a long time,the majority of private entrepreneurs have organized and led millions of workers to work hard,work hard and innovate constantly with the innovative consciousness of daring to be the first and the spirit of perseverance.China's economic development can create a miracle in China,and the private economy has contributed a lot!

Our Party's view on adhering to the basic economic system is clear,consistent and has never wavered.China's public economy has been formed in the course of national development for a long time,and has accumulated a large amount of wealth.This is the common wealth of all people.We must keep it well,use it well,and develop it well.Let it keep its value and appreciate its value.We must not let a large number of state-owned assets idle,run off,or waste.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 sector of the economy is not opposed to encouraging,supporting and guiding the development of the non-public sector,but is an organic unity.The public economy and the non-public economy should complement each other and complement each other,rather than repel and offset each other.

For some time,some people in the society have made some negative and suspicious remarks about the private economy.For example,some people put forward the so-called"theory of the departure of private economy",saying that the private economy has completed its mission and should withdraw from the historical stage;Some people put forward 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 party building and trade union work in enterprises is to control private enterprises,etc.These statements are completely wrong and do not conform to the Party's major policy.

Here,I would like to emphasize once again that the status and role of non-public economy in China's economic and social development have not changed!We have never wavered in our policies to encourage,support and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy!The principles and policies that we are committed to creating a good environment and providing more opportunities for the development of the non-public economy have not changed!China's basic economic system has been written into the Constitution and the Party Constitution,which will not change and cannot change.Any words or deeds that negate,doubt or shake the basic economic system of our country do not conform to the principles and policies of the Party and the state.Do not listen to or believe them!All private enterprises and entrepreneurs can be reassured and secure for development!

In short,the basic economic system is a system that we must adhere to for a long time.Private economy is the internal element of China's economic system,and private enterprises and private 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 the supply side structural reform,high-quality development,and the construction of a modern economic system,and an important force for our Party to stay in power for a long time,unite and lead the people of the country to achieve the"Two Centenary Goals"and the Chinese Dream of 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,China's private economy can only grow,not weaken,not only can't"leave",but also should move to a broader stage.

2、Correctly Understand the Difficulties and Problems in the Development of the Current Private Economy

Recently,some private enterprises have encountered many difficulties and problems in their operation and development.Some private entrepreneurs describe themselves as meeting"three mountains":the iceberg of the market,the mountain of financing,and the volcano of transformation.The causes of these difficulties and problems are multifaceted,and are the result of the meeting of multiple contradictory problems,such as external and internal factors,objective and subjective reasons.

The first is the result of changes in the international economic environment.For some time,risks have accumulated in the process of global economic recovery,protectionism and unilateralism have risen significantly,which has brought many adverse effects on China's economy and market expectations.Private enterprises account for 45%of China's total exports.Some private export enterprises will inevitably be affected,and those supporting export enterprises or those in the industrial chain will also be affected.

The second is the result of China's economic transition from a stage of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development.At present,we are in the critical period of transforming the development mode,optimizing the economic structure,and transforming the growth impetus.The speed of economic expansion will slow down,but the overall upgrading of the consumption structure and the rapid adjustment of the demand structure put forward higher requirements for the quality and level of supply,which will inevitably bring pressure on enterprises to transform and upgrade.In the process of structural adjustment,the industry concentration will generally rise,and the competitive enterprises will win,which is the normal result of the survival of the fittest in the market.Under such a complex background,it is inevitable that some private enterprises will encounter difficulties and problems,which is the long-term adjustment pressure brought by the changes in the objective environment.Both private enterprises and state-owned enterprises need to gradually adapt to the requirements of high-quality development.

The third is the result of inadequate policy implementation.In recent years,we have introduced a lot of policies and measures to support the development of private economy,but many of them are not well implemented and effective.Some departments and localities do not have a good understanding of the major policies of the Party and the state to encourage,support and guide the development of private enterprises.There are policy deviations that should not exist in their work.There is still a big gap in terms of equal protection of property rights,equal participation in market competition,and equal use of production factors.In the process of formulating some policies,the early research was not enough,the opinions of enterprises were not fully listened to,the actual impact of policies was not well considered,and the necessary adjustment period was not reserved for enterprises.Some policies are uncoordinated with each other,the policy effects overlap in the same direction,or the working methods are simple,which leads to some policies with good intentions having opposite effects.For example,in the process of preventing and defusing financial risks,some financial institutions are reluctant to lend to private enterprises or even directly withdraw loans,resulting in liquidity difficulties and even closure of enterprises;In the process of"replacing business tax with VAT",the increase in tax burden brought by standardized tax collection and management to some small and micro enterprises requiring deduction was not fully considered;In the process of improving the collection of social security contributions,the adaptability of enterprises and the expected tightening effect brought by the change of the collection and management mechanism were not fully considered.These problems should be solved according to the actual situation to create a good environment for the development of private enterprises.

At present,the difficulties encountered by China's private economy also have their own reasons.In the period of rapid economic growth,some private enterprises are relatively extensive,eager to shop and scale up,with too much debt.There are problems in environmental protection,social security,quality,safety,credit and other aspects that are not standardized,robust or even illegal.Under the background of strengthening supervision and law enforcement,they will inevitably face great pressure.

It should be recognized that the current difficulties encountered by some private economies are realistic,even quite severe,and must be highly valued.At the same time,we should also recognize that these difficulties are difficulties in development,problems in progress,and troubles in growth,which can be solved in development.I believe that as long as we adhere to the basic economic system and implement the policies of the Party and the state,the private economy will certainly achieve greater development.

3、Vigorously support the development and growth of private enterprises

Maintaining composure,enhancing confidence and focusing on our own affairs are the key to coping with various risks and challenges.At present,China's economic operation is generally stable and progressive,and the main indicators remain within a reasonable range.At the same time,the uncertainty of China's economic development has risen significantly,downward pressure has increased,and business difficulties have increased.These are all problems that must be met in the process of progress.

In the face of difficulties and challenges,we should see the favorable conditions and enhance our confidence in China's economic development.First,China has huge development resilience,potential and room for manoeuvre.China has a domestic demand market of more than 1.3 billion people,which is at the stage of simultaneous development of new industrialization,informatization,urbanization and agricultural modernization.The expansion of middle-income groups breeds a large number of demand for consumption upgrading.The unbalanced development between urban and rural areas and regions contains considerable development space.Second,China has better development conditions and material foundation,a more complete global industrial system and constantly enhanced scientific and technological innovation capability,and the total savings rate is still at a high level.Third,China is rich in human capital,with more than 900 million labor force,of which more than 170 million are highly educated or have professional skills.Every year,more than 8 million college students graduate.The comparative advantage of labor force is still obvious.Fourth,China has a vast land area,abundant land resources and huge potential for intensive land use,which also provides a good spatial support for economic development.Fifthly,based on the analysis of various factors,the fundamentals of sound and stable economic development in China have not changed,the conditions of production factors supporting high-quality development have not changed,and the overall momentum of long-term stability and improvement has not changed.Compared with major economies,China's economic growth is still among the top in the world.Sixth,China has unique institutional advantages.We have strong leadership from the Party and political advantages to concentrate our efforts on major issues.The comprehensive deepening of reform continues to release the impetus for development,and the capacity for macroeconomic regulation continues to increase.

In terms of the external environment,the world economy as a whole has shown a momentum of recovery and recovery,and peace and development are still the trend of the times.In the first three quarters of this year,China's import and export maintained a steady growth momentum,and the total import and export trade with its major trading partners increased.With the solid progress of jointly building the"the Belt and Road",China's investment and trade cooperation with countries along the"the Belt and Road"has accelerated,becoming a new bright spot in our external economic environment.

In short,as long as we maintain our strategic focus,adhere to the general tone of seeking progress while maintaining stability,take the supply side structural reform as the main line,and comprehensively deepen reform and opening up,China's economy will certainly be able to accelerate its transition to high-quality development and usher in a brighter development prospect.

In the process of China's economic development,we should constantly create a better development environment for the private economy,help the private economy to solve the difficulties in its development,support the reform and development of private enterprises,turn pressure into power,let the source of innovation of the private economy fully flow,and let the creative power of the private economy fully burst out.To this end,we should focus on the implementation of six policy initiatives.

First,reduce the tax burden of enterprises.We should do a good job in all aspects of the cost reduction action of supply side structural reform,and substantially reduce the burden on enterprises.We should increase tax cuts.We should promote substantial tax reductions,such as value-added tax,and make it simple and easy to operate,so as to enhance the sense of gain of enterprises.Inclusive tax exemption can be implemented for small and micro enterprises and technology-based start-ups.According to the actual situation,we should reduce the nominal rate of social security payment,stabilize the payment method,and ensure that the actual burden of enterprise social security payment is substantially reduced.We should not only prevent tax evasion with stricter standards,but also avoid the suspension of enterprises that operate normally due to improper taxation.We should further clear up and simplify the administrative examination and approval matters and enterprise related charges involving private investment management,standardize the behavior of intermediate links and intermediary organizations,reduce the burden on enterprises,accelerate the promotion of zero administrative and institutional charges for enterprises,and reduce enterprise costs.Some local good practices should be promoted nationwide.

Second,solve the problem of financing difficulty and high cost for private enterprises.We should give priority to solving the financing problems of private enterprises,especially small and medium-sized enterprises,and gradually reduce the financing costs.We should reform and improve the regulatory assessment and internal incentive mechanism of financial institutions,link the performance assessment of banks with support for the development of private economy,and solve the problem of not daring to lend or unwilling to lend.We should expand access to financial markets,expand financing channels for private enterprises,and give play to the role of private banks,small loan companies,venture capital,equity and bonds as financing channels.For private enterprises with the risk of equity pledge closing positions,relevant parties and local governments should promptly study and take special measures to help enterprises tide over difficulties and avoid problems such as the transfer of enterprise ownership.We will guide local governments and provide necessary financial assistance to promising private enterprises that are in line with the direction of economic structure optimization and upgrading.Provincial governments and cities specifically designated in the state plan can set up policy relief funds with their own funds,and comprehensively use a variety of means to help key private enterprises in the region,such as industrial leaders,large employment households,strategic emerging industries,to rescue under the premise of strictly preventing illegal borrowing and strictly preventing the loss of state-owned assets.We should attach great importance to the issue of triangular debts,and correct the behavior of some government departments and large enterprises that use their advantages to bully the small and default on payments to private enterprises.

Third,create a fair competition environment.We should break all kinds of"rolling doors","glass doors"and"revolving doors",and create a fair competition environment for private enterprises in market access,approval,operation,bidding,military and civilian integration,and create sufficient market space for the development of private enterprises.We should encourage private enterprises to participate in the reform of state-owned enterprises.We should promote the transformation of industrial policies from differentiation and selectivity to inclusiveness and functionality,sort out policy documents that violate fair,open and transparent market rules,and promote the enforcement of anti-monopoly and anti unfair competition laws.

Fourth,improve the way of policy implementation.No matter how good the original intention of any policy is,we should consider the possible negative impact,the difference between the actual implementation and the original intention of the policy,and whether there is a superposition effect with other policies to constantly improve the policy level.All regions and departments should proceed from reality,improve the art of work and management level,strengthen policy coordination,refine and quantify policy measures,formulate relevant supporting measures,promote the implementation,refinement and implementation of various policies,and enable private enterprises to enhance their sense of gain from policies.De productivity and deleveraging should implement the same standards for all types of ownership enterprises.We should not implement policies with colorful glasses,and we should not stop lending to private enterprises.We should improve the performance of government departments,avoid simplification in the process of micro law enforcement in areas such as safety supervision and environmental protection in accordance with the direction of national macro-control,adhere to the principle of seeking truth from facts,proceed from reality in everything,and implement policies without"one size fits all".We should,in combination with the reform supervision work,supervise and promote the implementation of the reform plans for private enterprises,such as property rights protection,promotion of entrepreneurship,and fair market competition review,which were approved at the meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Deepening of Reform.

Fifth,build a new pro Qing political business relationship.Party committees and governments at all levels should implement the requirements of building a new type of close relationship between government and business,take supporting the development of private enterprises as an important task,and spend more time and energy on the development of private enterprises and the growth of private entrepreneurs.It should not be a slogan.We require leading cadres to keep the bottom line and keep a good balance when dealing with private entrepreneurs,which does not mean that leading cadres can ignore the legitimate requirements of private entrepreneurs and do not protect their legitimate rights and interests,but should actively serve private enterprises.The main responsible comrades of all relevant departments and local governments should always listen to the reports and appeals of private enterprises,especially when private enterprises encounter difficulties and problems,they should actively act and serve in advance to help solve practical difficulties.The work of supporting and guiding state-owned enterprises,private enterprises,especially small and medium-sized enterprises to overcome difficulties and innovate and develop should be included in the cadre assessment and investigation scope.People's organizations,federations of industry and commerce and other organizations should go deep into private enterprises to understand the situation,actively reflect the difficulties and problems encountered in the production and operation of enterprises,and support enterprise reform and innovation.We should strengthen public opinion guidance,correctly publicize the major policies of the Party and the state,and promptly clarify some erroneous statements.

Sixth,protect the personal and property safety of enterprise families.To stabilize expectations and promote entrepreneurship,safety is the basic guarantee.We have stepped up the fight against corruption to implement the requirements of the Party to manage the Party and govern the Party strictly in an all-round way,to punish corrupt elements within the Party,to build a good political environment,and to resolutely oppose and correct violations of discipline and law,such as power for personal gain,money and power trading,corruption and bribery,eating and taking cards,and bullying people.This is conducive to creating a healthy environment for the development of private economy.In the process of performing their duties,the discipline inspection and supervision authorities sometimes need the assistance of enterprise operators to investigate.In this case,they should find out the problems,protect their legal personal and property rights and interests,and ensure the legal operation of enterprises.For some non-standard behaviors in the history of some private enterprises,we should look at the problem from the perspective of development,and deal with them according to the principle of legally prescribed punishment for a specified crime and no punishment for doubtful crimes,so that entrepreneurs can unload their ideological burden and move forward with light weight.I have repeatedly stressed the need to screen and correct a number of wrong and unjust cases that infringe on the property rights of enterprises.More recently,the people's court has retried several typical cases according to law,which has been well received by the society.

As I said,the healthy development of the non-public economy is based on the healthy growth of non-public economic people.It is hoped that the majority of private economic personnel can strengthen their self-learning,self-education and self-improvement.Private entrepreneurs should cherish their own social image,love the motherland,the people and the Communist Party of China,practice the socialist core values,promote entrepreneurship,and become a model of patriotism,law-abiding business,entrepreneurship and innovation,and return to the society.Private entrepreneurs should be upright and follow the right path,concentrate on running enterprises,operate in compliance with laws and regulations,and improve the competitiveness of enterprises in compliance with laws and regulations.Operating in compliance with the law is a principle that any enterprise must abide by,and it is also the way of long-term development.It is necessary to improve the internal skills of enterprises,especially to improve the business ability and management level,improve the corporate governance structure,and encourage qualified private enterprises to establish a modern enterprise system.The new generation of private entrepreneurs should inherit and carry forward the old generation's spirit of hard work,daring,focusing on industry,and focusing on the main business,and strive to make the enterprise stronger and better.Private enterprises should also expand their international vision,enhance their innovation ability and core competitiveness,and form more enterprises with global competitiveness.

That's all.Thank you.