China on Monday announced measures to further boost private investment and support its development, according to the government website. The measures focus on widening market access, removing institutional bottlenecks and strengthening financial support to create a more enabling environment for private investors.
Experts said the move underscores the country’s determination to strengthen both the willingness and capacity of private investors, noting that effective implementation is expected to inject renewed momentum into economic growth by enhancing market confidence, improving resource allocation and expanding investment in key sectors.
Private investment is a key driver of economic growth and job creation. The measures reflect the latest multi-level support for private investment, setting out 13 targeted policy steps to strengthen guidance and safeguards.
The measures cover stronger government procurement support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the development of major pilot-scale platforms in key sectors and industrial chains, and the opening of pilot-scale services by state-owned enterprises, universities and research institutes to private firms, along with streamlined approval procedures for related projects.
The nation vowed to further expand government procurement support for SMEs. For engineering procurement projects worth more than 4 million yuan ($560,000) that are suitable for SMEs, at least 40 percent of the total procurement budget will be reserved for SME bidding, with local governments encouraged to further increase the ratio based on local conditions. The measures also encourage procurement entities to raise advance payments to private firms to more than 30 percent of the contract value.
The measures highlight support for private enterprises to accelerate the development of major pilot-scale platforms in key sectors and industrial chains.
The measures also call for state-owned enterprises, universities and research institutes to provide market-oriented pilot-scale services to private companies, and to explore streamlined approval procedures for building such pilot bases.
Bian Yongzu, executive deputy editor-in-chief of Modernization of Management magazine, said that the central government’s move to open pilot-scale platforms to private firms will meaningfully support their research and commercialization, reducing research and development (R&D) costs, shortening the path from lab to market, and accelerating product launches to strengthen competitiveness and profitability.
Bian told the Global Times on Monday that pilot-scale platforms are a crucial link between research and commercialization, allowing firms to test technical feasibility and product performance before market entry. Such platforms require heavy investment and resources, so many private companies are unable to build them independently, he added.
The measures also include support for private leading enterprises, core enterprises in industrial chains and third-party service providers to build integrated digital empowerment platforms. These platforms aim to unblock data flows along industrial and supply chains, facilitate cross-sector data integration and promote coordinated digital transformation among upstream and downstream SMEs.
Notably, the measures also encourage the orderly participation of private capital in infrastructure related to the low-altitude economy. This is seen as an institutional step to broaden project access.
During licensing for commercial space frequency use and launch activities, private investment projects will receive equal treatment, while market access policies for satellite communications will be optimized. The measures added that capable private firms will be supported to lead major national technological R&D tasks.
Bian said that such institutional opening to private enterprises will help give full play to the market’s decisive role in resource allocation and further energize the private sector. With their flexible operations and quick market response, private firms are expected to play a more active role in major science and industry projects under supportive policies, injecting new momentum into economic growth and innovation.
In recent years, the government has continuously optimized the business environment, strongly supported private enterprises in investment and business development, and helped them gain more opportunities and stronger momentum for growth.
Insiders said that despite challenges, the growth of private-sector investment has remained well-supported.
During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, the overall strength of the private economy has seen a marked improvement, with private enterprises accounting for more than 92 percent of all registered firms. Private firms also make up more than 92 percent of the country’s high-tech enterprises, the People’s Daily reported.
In 2025, more than 3,200 projects will be promoted to private capital, involving a combined investment of more than 3 trillion yuan, according to the report.
From 2021 to the first half of this year, tax and fee reductions for private-sector taxpayers totaled 7.2 trillion yuan, accounting for 72.9 percent of the nation’s total tax and fee cuts. Of this, reductions for micro-sized, small and medium-sized enterprises reached 6.3 trillion yuan, representing 64 percent, read the report.
In the first seven months of this year, private investment in non-real estate projects rose 3.9 percent year-on-year, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Private investment in accommodation and catering increased 19.6 percent, infrastructure investment rose 8.8 percent, investment in culture, sports and entertainment grew 8.1 percent, and manufacturing investment expanded 5 percent.