China has a 31-point plan for private sector to kick-start economy. But are bruised business owners buying it?

After years of regulatory clampdowns and Covid curbs, China’s battered private sector is being urged to step up to the plate as the economy falters

Despite top entrepreneurs’ chorus of support for 31-point action plan from Beijing, smaller business owners are ‘not sure it will make any difference’

Reading Time:6 minutes

Published: 6:00am, 9 Aug 2023Updated: 1:50pm, 21 Aug 2023

When Beijing released a 31-point guideline to “boost the development of the private economy” last month, several top entrepreneurs – mostly current or former members of China’s top political bodies – rushed to applaud the move via state media.

The wide-ranging plan showed the top leadership “cared” about the private economy, they chorused, asserting how “confident” they were about the future of the private sector.

It was unclear whether they spoke from the heart. As members of China’s political system, they are required to toe the official line.

In any case, they did convey a clear message from Beijing. With the economy losing steam, the government was relying on the private sector to lead the post-pandemic recovery, and underpin both jobs and technological innovation at a time of increasing tensions between China and the US-led West.

“We will pull out all stops to follow the direction of the guideline,” billionaire businessman Cheng Wei, founding chairman and CEO of Didi Chuxing, a mobile transport platform, told Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily.

“We will play an active role in creating jobs, expanding consumption and sharpening [our] edge in international competition, making the company bigger, better and stronger.”