The private sector has played an important role in driving China's economic development.
Official data show that it generates over half of the nation's tax revenues, contributes 60 percent of annual GDP, drives 70 percent of technological innovations, provides 80 percent of urban employment, and accounts for 90 percent of all enterprises.
According to data from the State Administration for Market Regulation, as of the end of September, China had more than 5 million private companies, a 6-percent increase from the previous year, along with 125 million self-employed businesses, which grew by 3 percent. Combined, these figures represent a fourfold increase over the past decade.
The private sector has also outperformed the broader economy in investment and trade. In the first 10 months of the year, private investment (excluding real estate development) grew by 6.3 percent, while imports and exports from the private sector surged by over 9 percent compared to the previous year.
Chinese lawmakers are deliberating a draft of the country's first basic law specifically focused on the development of the private sector.
Lawmakers agreed that the law will be of great significance for further optimizing the environment for private sector development, accelerating the formation of a new development paradigm and driving high-quality growth.
Private sector important in driving Chinese economic development
China released the outline of its 15th Five-Year Plan on Friday, highlighting digital intelligence development and high-quality population development as vital drivers of economic and social progress.
Including dedicated sections on the two themes, the plan calls for greater efforts to facilitate AI applications and establish life cycle care to safeguard the people's right to development.
Compared with the 14th Five-Year Plan, which focused on accelerating digitalization, the new concept of "digital intelligence development" places greater emphasis on the integration of artificial intelligence with the real economy, according to a macro economy expert.
"While the previous five-year plan caught the wave of digitalization, the new plan is embracing a new wave. As we all know, the new round of science and technology revolution, featuring the rapid development of AI, is thriving. The 15th five-year plan elaborates in a separate chapter how China can respond to the new trend of science and technology and industrial development. Compared with the previous plan, which emphasized 'digital economy,' the new plan highlights 'new intelligent economic forms,' which requires AI to be integrated into all aspects of economic development and to better empower growth. This will be an important direction for the future," said Dong Yu, Executive Deputy Director of the China Institute for Development Planning at Tsinghua University.
The plan also places new emphasis on high-quality population development, dedicating a separate section to supporting policies throughout the life cycle of its citizens based on China's long-term demographic trends.
"The role of human factors in China's development is becoming increasingly prominent. Economic work now places greater emphasis on combining investment in physical assets with investment in people. By dedicating a separate chapter to population issues, the plan is not focusing solely on birth rates. More importantly, it aims to build a full-chain support system covering needs from birth to growth to elderly care. The tasks laid out in the plan will match these needs, ensuring that the principle of putting people first is reflected across every stage of human development," said Dong.
China’s 15th five-year plan underscores digital intelligence, high-quality population development
