Non-Public Sector of the Economy

Different from the category of the public economy. It refers to other forms of ownership in our country at this stage except for the public sector of the economy, mainly including self-employed, private, foreign-funded sectors of the economy, as well as the non-public economic components in the mixed-ownership economy, etc. Among them, the self-employed business is the form of ownership in which workers or families own the means of production and engage in self-employed labor and business. It is based on the labor of the worker, and the achievements of labor are directly owned and controlled by the worker. The private economy is a kind of ownership based on the private ownership of the means of production and hired labor, the purpose of which is to obtain profits. The foreign-funded sector of the economy is the form of ownership in which our country develops foreign economy relationship and attracts foreign investment. It includes Sino-foreign joint ventures, foreign capital in Sino-foreign cooperative enterprises, and wholly foreign-owned enterprises.

Since the Reform and Opening-up, guided by the Party’s policies, the non-public sector of the economy has grown from small to large, from weak to strong, and has played an important role in supporting growth, promoting innovation, expanding employment and increasing taxation. It has become an important part of China’s socialist market and an indispensable force in the national economy, becoming an important foundation for China's economic and social development. The Communist Party of China’s positioning of the non-public sector of the economy has undergone a process of development. In December 1978, after the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party, the non-public ownership economy began to recover and develop. In June 1981, the “Resolution on Certain Historical Issues of the Party Since the Founding of the People's Republic” passed by the Sixth Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Party clearly stated, “The state-owned sector of the economy and the collective sector of the economy are China's basic economic forms and the self-employed sector of the economy by workers within a certain scope is a necessary supplement to the public sector of the economy.” The Twelfth National Congress of the Party in September 1982 and the Thirteenth National Congress of the Party in October 1987 respectively confirmed that self-employed and private sectors of the economy are necessary and beneficial supplements to the public sector of the economy. In October 1992, the Fourteenth CPC National Congress clearly proposed the establishment of a socialist market economy. In terms of the ownership structure, it emphasized that “public ownership, including ownership by all people and collective ownership, as the main body, supplemented by self-employed, private, and foreign-funded sectors of the economy. Various economic components develop together in a long period.” In September 1997, the Fifteenth CPC National Congress established “public ownership playing a leading role and all forms of ownership growing side by side” as the basic economic system in the primary stage of socialism in China and for the first time, it clearly stated that “the non-public sector of the economy is an important part of the socialist market economy”. In November 2002, the Sixteenth CPC National Congress proposed that the public sector of the economy must be unswervingly consolidated and developed, and that the development of the non-public sector of the economy must be unswervingly encouraged, supported and guided. In October 2007, the Seventeenth CPC National Congress emphasized the need to take the “two unswervinglys” as a long-term policy and proposed “equal protection of property rights, forming a new pattern of equal competition among various sectors of the economy and mutual promotion”. In November 2012, the Eighteenth CPC National Congress further proposed to “Unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy and ensure that all sectors of the economy use production factors in accordance with the law, participate in market competition fairly and are equally protected by law.” The changes from “beneficial supplement” to “common development” and to “an important part” show that our Party has continuously deepened the development and understanding of the status of the non-public economy. In November 2013, the “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues of Comprehensively Deepening Reform” adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China reiterated that “it is necessary to unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector of the economy and stimulate its vitality and creativity” and put forward a series of new guidelines, specific tasks and promotion measures regarding this requirement. The “Decision” put forward for the first time that “adhering to equal rights, equal opportunities and equal rules” paved the way for the healthy development of the non-public sector of the economy. The “Decision” focused on promoting the healthy development of the non-public economy and proposed a series of new development concepts and policy directions on improving development policies, expanding development and transforming development ways, which have promoted the development of the non-public sector of the economy.