Beijing Holds Private Enterprise Symposium, Signaling Support for the Chinese Private Sector

On February 17, 2025, the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) convened the latest private enterprise symposium in Beijing. Official PRC media reported that top Chinese leader XI Jinping used the occasion to signal the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s support for Chinese private enterprises. Also on February 17, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislative body, announced that it will conduct a second review of the draft “Private Economy Promotion Law” [民营经济促进法] at its next meeting on February 24-25. Pamir assesses that the NPC will approve the law in 2025. In addition, Pamir expects that PRC central government agencies and subnational government administrations will roll out measures to support Chinese private enterprises throughout 2025. 

Pamir assesses that the latest private enterprise symposium is an indication that Beijing is acknowledging that Chinese private enterprises are necessary to lift China out of its current economic malaise. Since the first private enterprise symposium in 2018, the Chinese economy has been battered by a state imposed COVID lockdown that began in 2020 and the intensifying strategic competition between China and the United States. The latest symposium shows that Beijing is making a concerted effort to mobilize all of China’s resources, particularly private enterprises, to prop up the Chinese economy, which is critical to the CCP’s performance legitimacy. 

Chinese private enterprises have long played a significant role in China’s domestic economic development and the projection of China’s economic influence overseas. Pamir assesses that, backed by renewed political support from Beijing, Chinese private enterprises will become even more formidable competitors in the global market. Chinese private enterprises will also be more likely to support the PRC government’s policy of seeking dominance and self-reliance in key strategic industrial and technological domains, such as telecommunications, electric vehicles, semiconductors, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI). 

American companies should remain vigilant when doing business in China and partnering with Chinese companies. Specifically, U.S. businesses should adopt or strengthen measures to protect sensitive data, critical assets, intellectual property, and human resources from illicit targeting and acquisition. Meanwhile, the U.S. government should continue to adopt regulatory measures to build and strengthen American competitive advantages in key industries and technological domains.  

Private Enterprise Symposia

The 2025 private enterprise symposium is the fourth one convened by Beijing since 2018 and the second attended by Xi Jinping. Xi attended the 2018 symposium but did not attend the July 2020 and May 2024 events. The 2018 symposium took place after several years during which Beijing actively promoted state-owned enterprises (SOEs) over private enterprises. Immediately after Xi’s ascendance to the top leadership position in 2012, he stressed the importance of the state sector to safeguard the CCP-led political system. Xi believed that the growth of the private sector has expanded Chinese private enterprises’ political influence and undermined the CCP’s leadership and integrity. The result of Xi’s policy, known as “the state economy advances while the private economy retreats” (国进民退), was that between 2015 and 2018, Chinese SOEs accounted for a growing proportion of China’s industrial profits, from 22% in 2015 to 28% in 2018. By 2018, the SOEs’ industrial added value and profits overtook those of their private sector counterparts. 

The U.S.-China trade war that was launched during the first Trump administration negatively impacted China’s exports, which were driven principally by the Chinese private sector. The trade war threatened to impede Chinese economic growth given exports’ significant contribution to the Chinese economy – in 2018, exports accounted for nearly 20% of China’s GDP. In this context, the 2018 symposium was held to boost the morale and confidence of Chinese private enterprises, mobilizing them for competition with the United States. 

Similar considerations motivate the 2025 symposium. Internally, the Chinese economy is still recovering from the state imposed COVID lockdown that began in 2020. The policy has hit the Chinese private sector particularly hard, which has had significant impact on the overall performance of the Chinese economy. In addition to being the major driver of Chinese exports, historically China’s private sector has contributed to 50% of China’s tax revenue and 60% of China’s GDP. Even more significantly, China’s private sector accounts for 80% of China’s employment market. This is an important political consideration for the CCP, which has always been concerned about social stability (unemployment is a significant source of social instability). Externally, China now faces an intensification of the U.S.-China trade war and Beijing recognizes that the Chinese private sector, as the engine of Chinese exports, must shoulder a sizable portion of the burden in this conflict. 

Xi’s Speech, Policy “Signals,” “Private Economy Promotion Law”

According to an official read out published by the Xinhua News Agency (the official PRC state news agency) on the day of the symposium, Xi delivered an “important” speech at the event. The following day, Xinhua published an article summarizing the three “important [policy] signals” conveyed through Xi’s speech:

• “Signal 1: The party’s and the state’s basic principles and policies toward the development of the private economy cannot change and will not change.” The Xinhua article noted that the CCP party-state has consistently supported Chinese private enterprises. The article cited Xi’s comments at the 2018 private enterprise symposium: “Our country’s private economy can only grow, not weaken. Not only can it [private economy] not ‘leave the scene,’ but it must move toward a broader stage.”

• “Signal 2: The development prospects of the private economy are broad and promising.” The Xinhua article stressed that Xi’s support for China’s private enterprises have been consistent throughout his career. As evidence of Xi’s support, the article noted that as of the end of 2023, over 53 million private enterprises were registered in China, representing a growth of 3.9 times since 2012, when Xi ascended to the top leadership position in China. 

• “Signal 3: Whatever the CPC central authorities decide must be resolutely implemented and cannot be discounted.” The Xinhua article emphasized the importance of removing regulatory “obstacles” that unfairly prevent Chinese private enterprises from “fair participation in market competition.”

Senior PRC government officials have already begun to discuss measures to support the implementation of Xi’s talking points. ZHENG Bei, a vice chairperson of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC, China’s top macroeconomic planning agency), stated that the NDRC “will revise and issue a new version of the negative list for market access as soon as possible” to facilitate private enterprises’ entry into key industrial sectors. She added that the NDRC will continue to promote private enterprises’ “fair entry” into the fields of infrastructure and “key state S&T infrastructure.”

Also on February 17, Renmin Ribao (People’s Daily, the official CCP newspaper) reported that the NPC Standing Committee will conduct a second review of the draft “Private Economy Promotion Law” at its next meeting on February 24-25. The draft law is an outcome of the CCP Third Plenum held in July 2024. Historically, CCP third plenums have produced major decisions on China’s economic development. For example, the third plenum held in December 1978 was the occasion when Chinese paramount leader DENG Xiaoping launched the policy of “reform and opening up.” Zhongguo Xinwen Wang (also known as China News Service, which is affiliated with the CPC’s United Front Work Department with overseas Chinese as its targeted audience) reported that the draft law underwent initial NPC review on December 21, 2024. According to Zhongguo Xinwen Wang, the draft law will be China’s first “basic law concerning the development of the private economy.” Pamir assesses that this law will be less regulatory in nature and focuses more on principles to promote private sector growth. In this respect, Pamir expects PRC government agencies to produce administrative measures to facilitate the law’s implementation. 

Symposium Participants, Strategic Priorities

According to the February 17 Xinhua readout, WANG Huning, the fourth-ranked member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and head of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, the top policy advisory body in the Chinese government), served as the symposium’s moderator. Premier LI Qiang, the second ranked member of the CPC Politburo Standing Committee, and Executive Vice Premier DING Xuexiang, the sixth ranked member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, also attended the symposium. 

The following Chinese business leaders delivered remarks, including policy recommendations:

• REN Zhenfei [任正非], founder and CEO of Huawei Technologies Company, Ltd. [华为技术有限公司; Huawei is on the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List]

• WANG Chuanfu [王传福], founder and CEO of automaker BYD Company, Ltd. [比亚迪股份有限公司] 

• LIU Yonghao [刘永好], founder and chairman of agribusiness giant New Hope Group [新希望控股集团有限公司]

• YU Renrong [虞仁荣], founder and chairman of the Shanghai-based Will Semiconductor [上海韦尔半导体股份有限公司]

• WANG Xingxing [王兴兴], founder and CEO of the robotics company Hangzhou Yushu Technology Company, Ltd. [杭州宇树科技有限公司; also known as Unitree Robotics]

• LEI Jun [雷军], founder and chairman of consumer electronics company Xiaomi Corporation [小米科技有限责任公司]

The selection of these speakers signals the sectors that Beijing will prioritize for private sector growth, namely telecommunications, automobile manufacturing (particularly the production of electric vehicles), food, semiconductors, robotics, and consumer electronics. Given Beijing’s repeated emphasis on using AI to support sectoral growth, Pamir believes that AI will also be a priority area for private sector involvement. 

China Central Television (CCTV, China's national television broadcaster) reported on the attendance of Jack Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba. (Ma has stayed out of public view since openly criticizing PRC regulators in 2020.) However, Ma’s name did not appear in the various Xinhua reports on the symposium. Unlike the six Chinese business leaders who delivered remarks at the symposium, Ma does not hold any official role in his company. Pamir assesses that Ma’s attendance was intended to reinforce Beijing’s message to Chinese private enterprises: make money, but don’t get involved in politics.

Another attendee who was not mentioned in the February 17 Xinhua readout is LIANG Wenfeng [梁文锋], the founder and CEO of DeepSeek. DeepSeek made waves recently with its announcement that its chatbot has outperformed major AI platforms despite the lack of access to the most advanced AI chips. However, other Chinese media outlets, including Caixin (a Chinese business media group) reported on Liang’s attendance at the symposium.