习近平在民营企业座谈会上强调: (1) 民营经济发展前景广阔大有可为; (2) 民营企业和民营企业家大显身手正当其时 [Xi Jinping stressed the following at the private enterprise symposium: (1)
The development prospects of the private economy are broad and promising; (2)
It is the right time for private enterprises and private entrepreneurs to show their talents] (习近平：民营经济发展前景广阔大有可为 民营企业和民营企业家大显身手正当其时 )
The General Secretary of the Communist Party of China presided over a symposium at which entrepreneurs of private enterprises were invited to attend, provide their views and then hear what official accounts described as an important responsive speech by General Secretary Xi. The meeting received global attention, though the spin outside of China was slightly different than that within China. Notably the Wall Street Journal (China Changes Tack on Tech Titans) emphasized both the reactive nature of the meeting and the rehabilitation of a quite prominent business leader who had been disciplined in 2020. The coverage was not among the lead stories in the print edition, appearing only as the lead article on the "World News" section, p. A-12 alongside the story of airplane accident in Toronto.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping signaled to leading technology entrepreneurs and CEOs that he needed their help to deliver economic growth and self-sufficiency, more than four years after a crackdown by Beijing that dented confidence. Many of China’s most prominent business people gathered in Beijing to meet Xi on Monday, taking notes as Xi spoke from the front of the room, according to a video shown on state television.* * * The most striking face at the meeting was Jack Ma, co-founder and longtime leader of e-commerce and cloud-computing company Alibaba, who sat in the front row. The once-outspoken Ma has been largely absent from public view since he angered Xi with a speech in October 2020, and his companies were at the forefront of Beijing’s years-long tech-sector clampdown.
The symposium, and the discussion by the General Secretary, however one frames the political narratives around it, was important if only to add clarity to the way that the policy of the two unwaverings [两个毫不动摇 (liǎnggè háobù dòngyáo)] is now being refined after the 3rd Plenum of the 20th Party Congress and its important developments of socialist (Chinese stye) modernization and high quality production within it (See
切实落实“两个毫不动摇” 习近平这样要求 [Xi Jingping Requires the Practical Implementation of the Two Unwaverings policy] the Chinese and English text of which follow below). It also suggests both the instrumental nature of markets, and even more the complementary-instrumental nature of the private sector. It in this this respect that one might better appreciate the reporting of the General Secretary's participation in the event: "
The General Secretary's concern and
support for the private economy has a long history: "I have always
supported private enterprises, and I have worked in places where the
private economy is relatively developed. * * * General Secretary reiterated: "The basic principles and policies of the Party and the State for the development of the private economy have been incorporated into the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. They will be consistently adhered to and implemented. They cannot and will not change."
"[“我是一贯支持民营企业的，也是在民营经济比较发达的地方干过来的。” * * * 总书记再次强调：“党和国家对民营经济发展的基本方针政策，已经纳入中国特色社会主义制度体系，将一以贯之坚持和落实，不能变，也不会变。”] ( “我是一贯支持民营企业的” ["I have always supported private enterprises"]).
That is significant for a number of reasons. Perhaps the most important of these is that it suggests the role that the private sector is to play in the elaboration of high quality production (in some sense a leading and risk taking role). The role is essentially unchanged though now guided by 3rd Plenum goals and forms. And it remains strikingly different from current manifestation of European Marxist-Leninism in which the private sector is understood as useful only within strictly contained consumer market fields. Cuba is perhaps the best example of that old European approach in contemporary guide. Perhaps another touches on the way that this role is to be undertaken in fulfillment of the larger policy objectives of socialist modernization (and the challenge of the current general contradiction), to which the innovations of the private sector will be utilized by the state sector as the leading force of deploying the nation's productive forces in the service of and under the leadership and of the CPC. If the private sector is meant ot serve as innovation incubators, it is also meant to be built so that its innovations (and perhaps its operations) can be both more closely aligned with larger state owned or controlled enterprises, or be willing to yield productive innovation to them for more efficient elaboration on a comprehensive basis through the more intimate connections between CSOEs and State-Party organs. Lastly, the symposium points to the specific fields of economic activity in which State organs, under Party leadership and guidance are emphasizing as of significance to the basket of development through which a guided Socialist Modernization is realized. That last point ought to be of the greatest significance to foreigners with whom Chinese enterprises engage or compete. Particularity relevant may be the way in which thew working styles, division of authority (and markets), and points of emphasis and subsidy will shape the nature, character and quantum of Chinese overseas investments.
The text of the summary report, 习近平：民营经济发展前景广阔大有可为 民营企业和民营企业家大显身手正当其时 [Xi Jinping: The development prospects of the private economy are broad and promising. It is the right time for private enterprises and private entrepreneurs to show their talents], along with the reporting on the seminar ( “我是一贯支持民营企业的” ["I have always supported private enterprises"]), follow below in the original Chinese and in a crude English translation.
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| Pix credit here (Xi says it is wrong to 'bad mouth' China's state forms. . . but country needs private sector as well; Chinese President says state owned enter`rises should grow stronger, better, larger, byt that reforms show private enter`rises could 'boost their confidence' 2018) |
Additional brief reflections:
1. Here is the deal envisioned through the two unwaverings [两个毫不动摇 (liǎnggè háobù dòngyáo)] policy:
"We hope that private enterprises and private entrepreneurs will have the ambition to serve the country, focus on development, abide by the law and operate well, and promote common prosperity by getting rich first, so as to make new and greater contributions to promoting Chinese-style modernization. [希望广大民营企业和民营企业家胸怀报国志、一心谋发展、守法善经营、先富促共富，为推进中国式现代化作出新的更大的贡献。]
The ambition of private enterprise ought to be tied to the ambition of the State, and the ambition of the State is the manifestation of the guidance and leadership of the CPC; it would follow that the ambition of the private sector must align completely with the ambition of the CPC as it is manifested in its construction of the Socialist Market Economy. Private enterprise serves the country by serving the CPC. Considered fully, one can understand this as a further refinement of Sange Daibiao (the "three representations") within the framework of post 3rd Plenum development of the conception of socialist modernization as the policy engine around which the state apparatus is constructed under the guidance and direction of the CPC (considered in a constitutional context during the leadership of Hu Jintao in The Rule of Law, the Chinese Communist Party, and Ideological
Campaigns: Sange Daibiao (the 'Three Represents'), Socialist Rule of
Law, and Modern Chinese Constitutionalism). It is within this framework that the two track of public and private enterprise form lanes that together constitute an important element of the pathway through which the Socialist path can be moved correctly. That, anyway, is one way of understanding the theory.
2. Here the the core objective for economic structuring--achieving socialist modernization correctly within the cognitive cage of New Era Chinese Marxist-Leninism.
"The Party and the State adhere to and improve the basic socialist economic system, unswervingly consolidate and develop the public economy, unswervingly encourage, support and guide the development of the non-public economy; the Party and the State ensure that all kinds of ownership economies use production factors equally in accordance with the law, participate in market competition fairly, and are equally protected by law, promote the complementary advantages and common development of various ownership economies, and promote the healthy development of the non-public economy and the healthy growth of non-public economic personnel." [党和国家坚持和完善社会主义基本经济制度，毫不动摇巩固和发展公有制经济，毫不动摇鼓励、支持、引导非公有制经济发展；党和国家保证各种所有制经济依法平等使用生产要素、公平参与市场竞争、同等受到法律保护，促进各种所有制经济优势互补、共同发展，促进非公有制经济健康发展和非公有制经济人士健康成长。]
That cognitive cage starts from the presumption that private enterprises are utilizing productive forces--and the means of production--which are State assets, only by permission of those responsible for their utilization. These means of production do not lose their public character even when they are permitted to be used to enhance production within private enterprises. It is in this way that one can understand both the notion of complementarity and of the overall public nature of the socialist market economy. That is, that the economy, driven my markets, is in turn driven by and formed to maximize the fulfillment of, the public objectives which are a central element of economic activity. To those ends, and within those boundaries, individuals and firms may utilize markets and market practices. But socialist markets are goal oriented markets. And the goals are articulated by the CPC and internationalized through the state apparatus. And that, in turn, suggests the risk allocation elements of the "deal." Private entrepreneurs may be allowed to "get rich" (to the extent permitted) as a incentive for activity with respect to which they are the principle risk bearers. The risk controllers are the CPC and the State apparatus. The means of controlling risk is regulation. Here one encounters the critical element of complementarity--the fundamental allocation of risk and risk bearing between public actors and private entrepreneurs. In the wake of the 3rd Plenum development of socialist modernization and high quality production concepts driven by innovation, the State profits even more. Effectively complementarity suggests that private sector activity drives higher risk based innovation, which it s pays off rewards the risk takers materially (they get richer) and the State immensely more. The State benefits from the arrangement by directing the private sector to fields of economic activity where higher risk innovation is in the national interest (for example today in the tech sector). Where the risk taking pays off and innovation produces new products, processes, etc., the State can then profir form it by deploying it nationally through its state sector enterprises. Where risk produces no reward, the private sector bears its costs (loss of investment etc.).
3. This is possible only if those who may utilize the means of production
undertake that activity strictly under the guidance of the CPC and the
State--and that guidance is given form though
law/rule/regulation/oversight. It is in this sense that one can better
situate the focus on legality that is attached to and becomes a defining
feature of private enterprise in socialist markets.
"At the same time, we must realize that China is a socialist country under the rule of law, and the illegal acts of enterprises of all ownership types cannot be evaded." [中国特色社会主义制度具有多方面显著优势，社会主义市场经济体制、中国特色社会主义法治体系不断健全和完善，将为民营经济发展提供更为坚强的保障。]
Socialist legality, in that sense, then, can be understood as the means through which the guidance of the CPC in the utilization of the means of production by private sector enterprises, can be made mandatory. This is not a uniquely Leninist practice. It has become the standard approach in liberal democratic regimes associated both with the rise of a compliance based regulatory regime for enterprises and in the way that markets driven international soft law is hardened through regulation that is meant to enhance policy guidance from liberal democratic political organs. An example is the move toward regimes of mandatory human rights due diligence in enterprise management of behaviors within their global supply chains.
4. Serving the country: that is the essence of the deal of complementarity, and the expectations built into the permission for private sector firms to utilize the means of production:
" The majority of private enterprises and private entrepreneurs should be full of passion for entrepreneurship and serving the country, constantly improve their ideals, cultivate a sense of home and country, think of their roots and progress, promote the entrepreneurial spirit, concentrate on strengthening, optimizing and expanding enterprises, and firmly become builders of socialism with Chinese characteristics and promoters of Chinese-style modernization." [广大民营企业和民营企业家要满怀创业和报国激情，不断提升理想境界，厚植家国情怀，富而思源、富而思进，弘扬企业家精神，专心致志做强做优做大企业，坚定做中国特色社会主义的建设者、中国式现代化的促进者。]
Passion is expected, risking taking is expected, profit is the incentive, and adhering to the direction of the State is the responsibility of the private sector. It is in this sense that complementarity assumes its character--not as add on, but as an incubator on a vast scale, and a gap filler, where the direct intervention of the State is inefficient.
5. The public character of the private sector is understood and embedded in the behavior expectations of private enterprises. Yet this is nothing new--charitable expectations have deep historical roots. And that, too, aligns with current New Era policies to reach back into history to retrieve and apply ancient practices in contemporary form within the normative parameters of New Era Chinese Marxist-Leninism.
"We must actively fulfill our social responsibilities, actively build harmonious labor relations, do a good job in ecological environmental protection, participate in public welfare and charity to the best of our ability, and give more love to the society." [要积极履行社会责任，积极构建和谐劳动关系，抓好生态环境保护，力所能及参与公益慈善事业，多向社会奉献爱心。]
In this case, private enterprises, like public enterprises, are understood to be instruments of public policy. Where that instrumental quality can be directly deployed by State organs in their (ownership) control over state enterprises, private enterprises may be managed through deepening layers of regulation, compliance mandates and oversight (effectively the European model but with Chinese characteristics in the broadest case, or otherwise an interesting convergence in regulatory sensibilities).
6. And within the context of the two unwaverings [两个毫不动摇] within the Socialist Modernization of the means of production--of economic, social, cultural and political activity-- the CPC itself, and through them the state apparatus, must also continue to innovate its own productive capacities and meet the challenges of the current general contradiction through the mechanisms of public and private economic activity.
"Xi Jinping emphasized that some of the difficulties and challenges currently facing the development of the private economy are generally in the process of reform and development, industrial transformation and upgrading. They are local rather than overall, temporary rather than long-term, and can be overcome rather than unsolvable. We must unify our thoughts and actions with the judgment of the Party Central Committee on the domestic and international situation, and with the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee on economic work, see the future, see the light, and see the future in difficulties and challenges, maintain development determination, enhance development confidence, and maintain the spirit of fighting and winning." [习近平强调，当前民营经济发展面临的一些困难和挑战，总体上是在改革发展、产业转型升级过程中出现的，是局部的而不是整体的，是暂时的而不是长期的，是能够克服的而不是无解的。要把思想和行动统一到党中央对国内外形势的判断上来，统一到党中央对经济工作的决策部署上来，在困难和挑战中看到前途、看到光明、看到未来，保持发展定力、增强发展信心，保持爱拼会赢的精气神。]
Self-revolution (
自我革命) and CPC discipline, then, becomes the core challenge for the vanguard in a system that is wholly dependent on the correct operation of the CPC within its own institutional spaces. The essence of the relationship is dialectical in two respects. The first is external--the dialectics between private enterprises and the CPC itself and mimics the mass line. That was the essence of the Symposium and the nature of the way the meeting was arranged. The second is internal--(
习近平：健全全面从严治党体系 [
Xi Jinping: Improve the system of comprehensive and strict governance of the Party]). Its essence is straightforward
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we have unswervingly promoted the comprehensive and strict governance of the Party, achieved a series of theoretical innovations, practical innovations, and institutional innovations, built a comprehensive and strict governance system for the Party, and opened up a new realm of self-revolution for the century-old Party. [党的十八大以来，我们坚定不移推进全面从严治党，取得一系列理论创新、实践创新、制度创新成果，构建起全面从严治党体系，开辟了百年大党自我革命新境界。].
