Workers pack a foldable pet product for export in a private company in Wuyuan, East China's Jiangxi Province. File Photo: VCG

The State Council, China's cabinet, is looking into the problems that hinder the development of the private economy across the country, in a bid to provide a sound development environment for the sector.

The issues include local governments imposing arbitrary fines, industry associations charging arbitrary fees, and local governments taking discriminatory measures against private enterprises so that state-owned enterprises can dominate the market.

Other potential problems include local departments intervening in economic disputes via administrative or criminal means, such as seizing or freezing assets, according to gov.cn on Monday.

The campaign, which is expected to start in November, will be conducted in 16 provinces and municipalities from North to South, including Beijing, Tianjin and Yunnan.

In recent months, the Chinese government at all levels has introduced an array of policies to shore up the growth of the private economy.

In July of this year, guidelines were issued for boosting the growth of the private economy, with the aim of improving the business environment, enhancing policy support, and strengthening legal guarantees.

The guidelines said China will work to remove barriers to market access and fully implement policies and mechanisms for fair competition.

By the end of August, China's market regulation authorities had investigated and dealt with 17 cases involving monopoly agreements and abuse of market dominance, issuing fines totaling 910 million yuan ($126.77 million), the Xinhua News Agency reported.

In September this year, China set up a bureau under the country's top economic planner specializing in promoting the private economy's development, along with a raft of support policies.

The bureau is designed to strengthen policy coordination in relevant areas and ensure that related measures are implemented as early as possible and achieve tangible results.

With the authorities taking concrete measures to support the development of private companies, their recent performance has shown an upward trend.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that imports and exports by private enterprises increased by 6.1 percent in the first three quarters, accounting for 53.1 percent of the total. In terms of investment, although private investment fell by 0.6 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters, the decline was 0.1 percentage points narrower than that from January to August.

The State Council also said on Monday that it is considering other inspections into issues hindering the development of a unified national market, as well as ways to boost domestic consumption, improve the resilience of industrial and supply chains, and promote reasonable economic growth.

Global Times