Workers pack a foldable pet product for export in Wuyuan, East China's Jiangxi Province on Saturday. The producer, a private company in Wuyuan focusing on environmental protection and foldable housewares, has an annual output worth 200 million yuan ($32.5 million), and offers 1,500 jobs for local farmers. Photo: CFP

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, on Monday announced to establish a private economy development bureau dedicated to overseeing the rollout of major supportive measures in order to bolster private sector growth.
 
The bureau will track and analyze the development of the private economy, organize the formulation of relevant stimulus policies aimed at shoring up the sector's development and other measures promoting private sector investment, Zhang Shixin, an official from the NDRC said at a press briefing on Monday. 

Zhang added that the bureau will also establish a communication mechanism with the business community and assist to solve major problems impacting the development of the private economy, while supporting the sector to increase its competitiveness globally. 

Zhang noted that the establishment of the bureau will consolidate the current progress while creating better development environment for the private economy. 

It is necessary to establish a special government agency which can comprehensively understand and manage the operating conditions of domestic private enterprises, including the small- and medium- sized firms (SMEs), Hu Qimu, deputy secretary-general of the digital real economies integration Forum 50, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Hu noted that setting up the bureau will strengthen the communication mechanism between private companies and corresponding government agencies to better manage their requests during the policymaking process. 

The NDRC will also actively promote the construction of a key private investment project platform with the backing of a series of measures augmenting the budget and investment work, while optimizing the financing of private-funded projects, Cong Liang, vice minister of the NDRC said at the press briefing. Cong noted that the NDRC has proposed the first batch of 715 private investment projects to banks. 

Hu said that the establishment of a new market-oriented platform will assist SMEs to have easier access to more financing channels.

The move comes as China has been stepping up efforts to ramp up the development of the private economy in a bid to further bolster market confidence and improve market environment. 

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced on August 30 that a draft guideline aimed at increasing financial support for private enterprises is being finalized, including measures such as lifting the proportion of loans to private enterprises and smoother financing channels including IPOs and issuing bonds. 

Earlier in August, eight Chinese ministries including the NDRC issued 28 measures to support the private sector, two weeks after the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council issued a sweeping guideline on boosting the growth of the private economy on July 19.

Global Times