Xi Jinping delivers a report to the 19th CPC National Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Oct 18, 2017. [Photo by Xu Jingxing/chinadaily.com.cn]

THE COUNTRY will inspire and protect entrepreneurship, and encourage more people to start businesses, General Secretary Xi Jinping said in his report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Beijing News commented on Sunday:

This was the first time the term "private enterprises" was mentioned in a Party Congress report signaling full recognition of the value of non-State enterprises.

It is worth noting that non-State market players have been given more chances to compete on a level playing field in the past five years, thanks to the introduction of a negative list approach and the deepening reform of State-owned enterprises. And special guidelines have been enacted to safeguard entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs' property rights.

But private companies are also facing challenges with the Chinese economy entering its new normal and private investment growing at a slower pace. So a future priority of the National Development and Reform Commission will be to encourage the development of the private sector by lowering the investment threshold for emerging industries, said Zhang Yong, vice-chairman of the NDRC, the country's top economic regulator, on Saturday.

Institutional support and guidance like this should make young entrepreneurs more confident about their future.

There are 25 million private enterprises registered in China, contributing more than 60 percent of the country's GDP growth, at least half of its revenue, 70 percent of technological innovations and 80 percent of new jobs, according to Ran Wanxiang, vice-president of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee.