Xi says it’s wrong to ‘bad mouth’ China’s state firms... but country needs private sector as well
Chinese president says state-owned enterprises should grow stronger, better and larger, but that reforms show private enterprises could ‘boost their confidence’
President Xi Jinping has vowed to continue to strengthen China’s state-owned enterprises, while at the same time assuring the private sector it has the Communist Party’s “unswerving support”, amid widespread concerns about the fate of the country’s private companies.
“Our SOEs should continue to become stronger, better and larger,” Xi said during a visit to a state-owned petrochemical company in the northeastern Liaoning province on Thursday, Xinhua reported late that night.
“All statements and arguments saying we don’t need SOEs any more or we should diminish SOEs are wrong and one-sided,” he told workers at Liaoyang Petrochemical, a subsidiary refinery of oil-and-gas giant China National Petroleum Corporation.
“Any thoughts or comments that doubt or bad-mouth SOEs are wrong,” he said.
During another stop at a private manufacturer, however, Xi stressed the party’s “care and support” for the private sector since the country’s reform and opening-up.
“Many of the reform measures nowadays are about how to further develop the private economy – private enterprises should boost their confidence on this point,” he said when visiting the workshop of China Zhongwang Holdings, one of the country’s largest producers of aluminium alloy products.