Chinese business leader urges Beijing to ‘let common sense prevail’ amid private sector struggles

Michael Yu Minhong saw his wealth slashed when China’s leadership cracked down on private tutoring, and now he’s calling for market economy rules to be respected

Blunt appeal comes during one of the private sector’s most high-profile exchanges of ideas, the annual Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum

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Michael Yu Minhong, founder of New Oriental Education & Technology, has asked Beijing to “redress the relations between authorities and entrepreneurs”. Photo: Weibo

Published: 8:00am, 23 Feb 2024

A prominent business leader has called on China’s leadership to respect market rules, improve relations with enterprises and safeguard the nation’s business environment – echoing areas of widespread concern as a recovery in the nation’s embattled private sector continues to lag behind that of state-owned peers.

Michael Yu Minhong, founder of New Oriental Education & Technology, one of China’s largest private education conglomerates, made the blunt appeal as he addressed this year’s Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum in the northernmost province of Heilongjiang on Wednesday.

“The government has to respect market economy rules, let common sense prevail and redress the relations between authorities and entrepreneurs, and then local economies will take off,” said Yu, whose company’s market value plunged after Beijing’s abrupt crackdown on the tutoring industry that started in 2021.

The Yabuli forum is one of the most influential business organisations in China. It was founded in 2001 and meets annually to exchange ideas.

“History has proven that the right support for entrepreneurs will always pay off,” said the tycoon who saw his wealth shrink from a high of US$4.4 billion to an estimated US$2.5 billion, according to Forbes. Less than a year after the tutoring crackdown, Yu embraced live-streaming to sell goods online.

Confidence among China’s private firms remains worrisome despite the national economy’s 5.2 per cent growth in 2023 and new policy support that Beijing announced last summer, including a dedicated private economy bureau.

Beijing is keen on shoring up the private sector as China’s economic recovery remains uneven. On Wednesday, justice minister He Rong chaired a round-table discussion to solicit opinions for new legislation to promote the private economy.