BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended a symposium on private enterprises in Beijing on the morning of Feb. 17 and delivered an important speech. He stressed that the basic principles and policies of the Party and the country regarding the development of the private sector have been incorporated into the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and will be consistently upheld and implemented. These principles and policies cannot and will not be changed. On the new journey of the new era, the private economy has broad development prospects and immense potential, and it is the perfect time for private companies and entrepreneurs to fully demonstrate their prowess. It is imperative to unify thinking, strengthen confidence, and promote the healthy and high-quality development of the private sector. It is hoped that private enterprises and entrepreneurs dedicate themselves to serving the nation, focus on development, operate lawfully and effectively, and promote common prosperity while pursuing wealth, thereby making new and greater contributions to advancing Chinese modernization.

Li Qiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese premier, and Ding Xuexiang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chinese vice premier, also attended the symposium. Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, presided over the symposium.

Six representatives of private entrepreneurs -- Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei, BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu, New Hope Group Chairman Liu Yonghao, Will Semiconductor Chairman Yu Renrong, Unitree Robotics CEO Wang Xingxing, and Xiaomi Chairman Lei Jun -- spoke successively at the symposium. They shared their insights and suggestions on promoting the private sector's development under new circumstances.

Xi delivered an important speech after listening to the entrepreneurs. He said private enterprises have flourished along with the grand journey of reform and opening up. For decades, our Party's theory and practice have been consistent and kept pace with the times with regard to the understanding of the status and role of the private sector in reform, opening up and socialist modernization, as well as concerning the Party and the country's guidelines and policies on the sector's development. While upholding and improving the basic socialist economic system, the Party and the country are committed to unswervingly consolidating and developing the public sector and unswervingly encouraging, supporting and guiding the development of the non-public sector. The Party and the country ensure that economic entities under all forms of ownership have equal access to factors of production in accordance with the law, compete on a level playing field and are protected by the law as equals, thus enabling them to complement each other and develop side by side, and facilitating the healthy development of the non-public sector and those working in it.

Xi pointed out that the country's private sector boasts a considerable scale and carries heavy weight, laying a solid foundation for advancing the high-quality development of the private sector. On the new journey of the new era, China's productive forces will make new strides, people's living standards will improve steadily, and reform and opening up will be further deepened in an all-around way. In particular, with the rapid development of education, science and technology, a vast and high-caliber talent pool and workforce, well-developed industrial and infrastructure systems, and a supersized market of more than 1.4 billion people with huge potential, the private sector enjoys abundant new opportunities and greater headroom for development. The system of socialism with Chinese characteristics possesses salient advantages in various respects, and the socialist market economy and the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics have been constantly improved, providing a stronger guarantee for the development of the private sector.

Xi stressed that the difficulties and challenges currently faced by the private sector in its development generally emerged during the process of reform, development, and industrial transformation and upgrading. They are localized rather than systemic, temporary rather than long-lasting, and surmountable rather than unsolvable. It is imperative to align thoughts and actions with the CPC Central Committee's assessment of the domestic and international situations, and the CPC Central Committee's decisions and plans for economic work. Despite the difficulties and challenges, it is important to see the path forward and the bright future, stay committed to development, bolster confidence, and maintain an enterprising spirit.

Xi noted that effectively implementing policies and measures to support the private sector is our current focus for promoting the sector's development. The CPC Central Committee's decisions must be resolutely implemented without any compromise. It is a must to decisively remove all barriers that hinder equal and lawful access to factors of production and fair participation in market competition. We should constantly advance the opening of competitive sectors in infrastructure to all types of market entities on fair terms, intensify efforts to tackle the difficulties and high costs of financing for private enterprises, and strive to address payment arrears owed to private enterprises. It is imperative to strengthen law enforcement supervision, take focused actions to fight arbitrary charges, fines, inspections and seizures, and effectively protect the lawful rights and interests of private businesses and entrepreneurs in accordance with the law. At the same time, it is important to recognize that China is a socialist country under the rule of law, and thus no illegal activities by enterprises of any ownership type will escape investigation and punishment. It is essential to earnestly implement various relief policies, make the policies more targeted, adopt comprehensive measures, and treat all enterprises equally. Further efforts are needed to cultivate a cordial and clean relationship between government and business. Party committees and governments at all levels must base their actions on local conditions and coordinate efforts to ensure the effective implementation of policies and measures for promoting the private sector's development.

Xi emphasized that enterprises are major players in the market, and their internal driving force for development is of primary importance. Private businesses and entrepreneurs should maintain their passion for entrepreneurship and serving the country, pursue loftier ideals, and nurture a deep love for the country. They should keep in mind where they started and seek further advancements as they prosper. They should also promote the entrepreneurial spirit, focus on strengthening, optimizing and expanding their businesses, and be steadfast contributors to building socialism with Chinese characteristics and advancing Chinese modernization. It is necessary to unswervingly pursue high-quality development, focus on core business, strengthen the real economy, boost independent innovation, transform development models, and continuously enhance the quality, efficiency and core competitiveness of enterprises. They should strive to contribute more to promoting scientific and technological innovation, cultivating new quality productive forces, modernizing the industrial system, advancing rural revitalization comprehensively, facilitating coordinated regional development, and ensuring and improving the people's well-being. They should improve their governance structures by following the requirements of the modern corporate system with Chinese characteristics, regulate shareholder conduct, strengthen internal supervision, and improve risk prevention mechanisms. They should continuously refine mechanisms for the use, management and protection of production factors, including labor, talent, knowledge, technology, capital and data, while placing emphasis on cultivating company successors. It is crucial to uphold integrity and comply with the law in business operations, and establish correct values and ethical principles to drive the healthy development of the private sector through concrete actions. Furthermore, they must proactively fulfill their social responsibilities, foster harmonious labor relations, prioritize ecological and environmental protection, and participate in public welfare and charitable endeavors to the best of their capabilities to generously give back to society.

While presiding over the symposium, Wang Huning said that General Secretary Xi's important speech gave full recognition to the significant achievements in the private sector's development and its important contributions to the country's economic and social progress. The speech highlighted the need to correctly understand the opportunities and challenges facing the private sector, and drew up a comprehensive road map for promoting the sector's healthy and high-quality development at present and for some time to come. The speech is profound in vision, deep in thought, incisive in argumentation, and rich in content. We must earnestly study and resolutely implement it. It is essential to strengthen confidence in development, enhance awareness of the overall situation, apply systems thinking, uphold the rule of law and ensure the effective implementation of various policies, thus opening up a new chapter in the development of the private sector.

Shi Taifeng, Li Shulei, He Lifeng, Wu Zhenglong and Mu Hong attended the symposium.

Also present were leading officials from relevant central Party and government departments and the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, as well as representatives of private enterprise executives.