CCTV:

China has introduced a series of measures to bolster the private economy recently. What has been the effect? Thank you. 

Sheng Laiyun:

Thank you for the question. The private economy plays an important role in the economic system, contributing more than 50% of tax revenue, more than 60% of GDP, and more than 80% of urban employment. It is an important foundation for the national economy and an important foundation for high-quality economic development. The CPC Central Committee and the State Council have attached great importance to the development of the private economy. The report to the 20th CPC National Congress stressed that China will work unswervingly both to consolidate and develop the public sector and to encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector. This year, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued a guideline on boosting the growth of the private economy. All related departments and localities have introduced many policies and measures to promote the development of the private economy in accordance with the deployment and requirements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. With the meticulous implementation of those measures and policies, the private economy has seen positive changes, showing an overall recovery momentum. 

From the perspective of investment, private fixed assets investment fell by 0.6% in the first three quarters year on year. Although growth was still negative, the decline was 0.1 percentage point narrower than that from January to August, which is an important change. Real estate investment accounted for more than one-third of private investment. If real estate investment is excluded, private investment increased by 9.1%, 0.1 percentage point faster than that from January to August. From the perspective of foreign trade, the imports and exports of private enterprises increased by 6.1% year on year in the first three quarters. Compared with the slight drop in the country's total trade volume, imports and exports of private enterprises maintained growth, accounting for 53.1% of the national total, a continuously higher proportion over the same period last year. Moreover, the NBS conducted a survey of 59,000 small and micro-enterprises. The survey shows that the production and order index and the overall business situation of these enterprises have generally improved, and their business prosperity index rose by 1.5 percentage points month on month. These statistics indicate that the private sector has shown an encouraging recovery momentum with the support of relevant policies.

We have also realized that the private economy, especially small and micro-businesses, has been greatly affected by the epidemic over the past three years, so business recovery requires a process. The PMI of large enterprises was above the boom-bust line of 50 in September, and the reading for small enterprises came in at 48. Therefore, it is necessary to continue to fully implement the policies and measures introduced by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council to boost the private economy, and intensify efforts to consolidate the foundation for the development of the private sector. Thank you.