Protecting private businesses in theory

Retired officials are calling for the Party to radically rethink its approach to the private sector.

On Saturday, a group of former and sitting officials and private businesspeople held a symposium in Beijing to discuss innovating Party theory regarding private businesses.

Hu Deping, a former senior official and the son of former Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang, warned of the danger of neglecting the private sector:

• “Private ownership, family, and the state emerged together, and their disappearance would also coincide.”

Liu Shijin, a former deputy director at the State Council's in-house think tank (DRC), argued the Party should overhaul how it thinks about business ownership:

• “Instead of categorizing enterprises as state-owned, private, or foreign, classify them based on factors like scale, technology, employment, and industry characteristics, while implementing corresponding policies.”

Policymakers were listening: Officials from the macro planner's (NDRC) private economy promotion bureau reportedly requested attendees' input into the Private Economy Promotion Law, which is being fast-tracked by the legislature.

Get smarter: Savvy businesspeople know that a change in Party theory would protect their interests much better than a new state law.

• And it now appears all but certain that the private sector is in for a theoretical status bump – even if eliminating the current company ownership categories is almost certainly a bridge too far.