Economy with Diverse Forms of Ownership

Various ownership sectors of the economy, including the public sector and non-public sector of the economy, are included. In September 1997, the 15th CPC National Congress clearly put forward for the first time the basic economic system of “public ownership playing a leading role and all forms of ownership growing side by side”, and then emphasized the need to “encourage, support and guide” the development of the non-public sector of the economy. In accordance with the requirements for the liberation and development of productive forces, upholding and improving the basic economic system with public ownership playing a leading role and all forms of ownership growing side by side is not only the foundation of the socialist market economy system, but also an important pillar of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. Various ownership sectors of the economy are important parts of the socialist market economy and important foundation for our country’s economic and social development. The public sector of the economy includes not only the state-owned economy and the collective sector of the economy, but also the state-owned and collective components in the mixed ownership economy. Mixed ownership has become a very important form of ownership.

The Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasized that the cross-shareholding and mutually integrated mixed ownership economy of state-owned capital, collective capital, and non-public capital is important realization of the basic economic system.

Non-public sector of the economy is an important part of our country's socialist market economy.

China’s self-employed, private, and other non-public sectors of the economy have undergone major changes, from its emergence to “necessary and beneficial supplements” to “an important part of the socialist market economy”, and have now grown into an indispensable part of China’s productivity development, an important economic growth point of our country, a main channel for providing new jobs and a new force to meet the people's growing diverse material and cultural needs. Since the Reform and Opening-up, we have been unremittingly exploring the ownership structure in the primary stage of socialism and we have got rid of the old idea that the “bigger” and “more public” the ownership is, the better. We have established the new idea that the nature of productivity determines the ownership structure and got rid of the old idea that “unification” is better and established a new idea of separating the ownership and management. We have abolished the traditional concept that “pure” ownership system is better and established a new system in which public ownership plays a leading role and all forms of ownership grow side by side. The joint development of the public and non-public sectors of the economy has greatly stimulated the vitality of our country’s economic and social development.