China’s ‘two sessions’ 2023: Xi Jinping hails role of private firms, but will ‘actions speak louder than words’?

Xi Jinping’s comments come at high-profile meeting with upper-echelon party members and billionaire business leaders

The task of boosting the private economy will be divided into more detailed plans and be allocated to specific government agencies for implementation after ‘two sessions’

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President Xi Jinping (seated centre) told the nation’s top political advisory body, “We have always treated private firms and entrepreneurs as one of us.” Photo: Xinhua

Published: 9:00am, 8 Mar 2023Updated: 9:27am, 8 Mar 2023

President Xi Jinping told private entrepreneurs and business representatives that they should “eliminate worries” and “lay down burdens” in their business development, calling them “one of us” at a high-profile conference on Monday.

It marked a sharp contrast to previous government endeavours to curb the disorderly expansion of capital, and it may herald a more supportive stance throughout Xi’s norm-breaking third term, especially with his most pro-business aide, Li Qiang, expected to take the premiership later this week.

The latest charm offensive comes with Beijing looking to rely more on the private sector to stabilise the national economy and job market, and leadership faces an uphill battle in mitigating and coping with Washington’s technological-containment measures.

However, some analysts say Beijing needs to take substantial action in areas such as market access and equal treatment, if it hopes to restore market confidence, and more financial help is needed for private businesses that just endured nearly three years’ worth of costly zero-Covid measures.

“We have always treated private firms and entrepreneurs as one of us,” the president told members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country’s top political advisory body.

“We should help solve problems for private enterprises and private entrepreneurs, so that they can have a free hand and concentrate on [business] development without burden.

“It is necessary to strengthen ideological and political guidance, guide private enterprises and private entrepreneurs to … eliminate worries, lay down burdens and develop boldly.”

Calls to eliminate private ownership, which have echoed across Chinese social media since 2018, have been posing a lingering threat to entrepreneurs. Meanwhile, the central government has more heavily regulated internet companies and educational services, while leadership’s push for common prosperity since 2021 has raised questions about how wealth will be distributed.