Thanks to reform and opening-up, China's private economy has grown from small to large in size and from weak to strong in might, and it now occupies a hefty weight in the overall national economy.

From Black Myth: Wukong, China's first triple A-rated video game, to AI app DeepSeek, that has triggered a tsunami in the global AI domain, to the creation of humanoid robots that perform the popular Yangko dance, China's private enterprises have displayed their strength in innovation and become an important element of the country's scientific and technological innovation.

The development of the private economy in the new era has broad prospects and it is the right time for private enterprises and entrepreneurs to exercise their expertise, the top leader said at a meeting with some private entrepreneurs on Monday.

Global changes taking place today are pushing all countries to increasingly rely on innovation to reshape their competitive advantages and enhance international competitiveness. Given that private enterprises contribute more than 90 percent of new jobs and newly established enterprises in China, the country needs to unleash the potential of private enterprises, cultivate and develop new quality productive forces, improve the quality of products and services, and make greater efforts in key areas where it is easily pinched at the neck by some developed economies to promote technological innovation and industrial transformation and upgrading.

The private sector in China enjoys a solid foundation for high-quality development, but also faces some temporary difficulties and challenges. Decision-makers should ponder on how to make the private economy a source of innovation and fully unleash its creativity, better protect and promote entrepreneurship and transform the government from being a manager to a service provider.

Policymakers should know that policies should focus on the demands of private enterprises. The measures the top leader promised entrepreneurs on Monday point at practical problems that private enterprises are most concerned about.

The suggested measures could help remove various barriers that stop private enterprises from equally using production factors and participating in market competition, and rectify malpractices targeting private enterprises such as unwarranted inspections and the arbitrary charging of fees.

Private enterprises and private entrepreneurs should also seize new opportunities, strengthen independent innovation, and change the mode of development, so as to improve their core competitiveness and make greater contributions to the country's high-quality development.

ECONOMIC DAILY