BEIJING — President Xi Jinping urged efforts to spur the vitality of market entities and promote entrepreneurship, as he chaired a symposium with entrepreneurs on July 21.
Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, called for more efforts to enable enterprises to play a bigger role and achieve greater development.
Also attending the symposium were Wang Yang, Wang Huning and Han Zheng, all members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
At the meeting, seven entrepreneurs shared their opinions and made suggestions on the current economic situation, the protection of market entities, sci-tech innovation, deepening reform and the 14th five-year plan. Xi interacted with them and made an important speech afterward.
"Through joint efforts of the whole nation, China has achieved significant strategic results in epidemic prevention and control, while its economy reported stable performance with signs of improvements," Xi said.
China has been at the forefront of both epidemic prevention and control and economic recovery, and the situation is better than expected, Xi said.
Xi called for efforts to boost confidence and rise to challenges, amid endeavors to make up for the losses caused by the epidemic and strive for good results in economic development throughout the year.
All types of market entities have actively participated in the people's war against the epidemic through solidarity and cooperation, overcoming difficulties, fighting hard to save themselves, and providing strong material support for the anti-epidemic fight, Xi said.
At the meeting, Xi expressed his heartfelt thanks for the contribution made by all market entities to epidemic prevention and control, as well as to economic and social development.
Xi urged efforts to enhance policy-based support to stimulate the vitality of market entities so that they can not only survive but also thrive.
He stressed the need to adopt more proactive and impactful fiscal policies and more prudent monetary policies, with flexibility to keep macro policies more targeted and timely.
More work should be done in tax and fee cuts, as well as the reduction of rents and interest rates, to ensure relief policies reach the primary level and benefit market entities directly, Xi said.
He also emphasized measures to enhance financial assistance to market entities, develop inclusive financing and shore up domestic sales of products originally made for export.
Efforts should be made to create a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment, Xi said, urging firm implementation of the Civil Code and other related laws and regulations.
China should firmly implement the negative list for market access and foreign investment law, widen market access and facilitate trade and investment, he said.
Stressing the establishment of a cordial and clean relationship between government and business, Xi said opinions and suggestions from entrepreneurs should be taken into account when creating policies that relate to enterprises.
China should provide more high-quality public services to help entrepreneurs take root in China and cultivate the Chinese market, Xi said.
Great attention should be paid to the development of individually-owned businesses, he said, urging more direct and effective policy support to help them overcome difficulties concerning rent, fees and taxes, social insurance and financing.
Xi called on entrepreneurs to promote entrepreneurship and seek self-improvement in terms of patriotism, innovation, integrity, social responsibility and global vision, in order to lead enterprises out of the immediate plight and toward a brighter future.
He encouraged entrepreneurs to play a key role in creating a new development pattern in the new era, building the modern economic system and pushing for high-quality development.
Entrepreneurs should have the courage to advance innovation in production organization, technology and market, Xi said, adding that emphasis should be placed on technological research and development and human-capital investment to effectively mobilize employees' creativity and build enterprises into powerful entities of innovation.
Xi demanded that entrepreneurs set a good example for society as a whole by their honest and law-abiding practices, strive to stabilize employment, care for employees' health and join hands with their employees to tide over difficulties.
Xi also called on entrepreneurs to think more globally to stay on top of the trends and demand in the international market, improve their ability to grasp international rules, tap business and guard against risks in the international market, and lead their firms to further development amid the pursuit of a higher level of opening-up.
In the face of an external environment characterized by rising protectionism, global economic downturn, and a shrinking international market, Xi stressed the need to pool resources and concentrate on managing the country's affairs well, and give full play to the advantage of a huge domestic market, so that a new development pattern will gradually be created whereby domestic and foreign markets can boost each other, with the domestic market as the mainstay.
Efforts should be made to elevate the modernization level of the industrial and supply chains, promote sci-tech innovation, speed up breakthroughs in core technologies, and foster new advantages for future development.
In the long run, economic globalization remains a historic trend, while it is a long-term trend for countries to work in cooperation with due division of labor for mutual gains, he said.
"We shall stand on the correct side of history, stick to deepening reforms and opening-up, step up opening-up and cooperation in the sci-tech field, advance the development of an open world economy, and promote the building of a community with a shared future for mankind," he noted.
Xi instructed relevant departments to take into account the opinions and suggestions of entrepreneurs in making the 14th five-year plan.
