Business body releases list of 100 prominent private entrepreneurs
A list of 100 prominent Chinese private entrepreneurs was announced on Wednesday to commemorate 40 years of China's reform and opening-up, inspiring entrepreneurship as the country gears up for a new round of reform and opening-up.
Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma Yun, Huawei President Ren Zhengfei and the founders of other top Chinese technology companies including Baidu, Tencent, Lenovo and Xiaomi are on the list, which also includes heads of famous privately held businesses in sectors ranging from food and animal feed to healthcare and finance.
Since the start of reform and opening-up, the country has adhered to a basic economic system in which public ownership plays a dominant role while diverse forms of ownership develop side by side, and a raft of policy measures and reform efforts have been unveiled to encourage, support and guide the private economy's development, Fan Youshan, vice chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), said while announcing the list at a news conference.
The private entrepreneurs selected into the list are emblematic of the country's private economic development, according to the ACFIC. They resolutely uphold the Party's leadership, unswervingly go along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics and champion the reform and opening-up policies, among other qualities enumerated by the ACFIC.
The list, composed of investors in privately run businesses registered with industry and commerce administrations at all levels, aims to promote entrepreneurship and create a favorable environment for the healthy growth of private entrepreneurs.
The list came amid intense discussion on the roles of the country's public and private sectors, leading to rising concerns over the fate of China's private sector.
Seeing many of the country's famous entrepreneurs on the list will inspire growing optimism that the role private entrepreneurs have played in revving up the economy over the past four decades has been acknowledged, dispelling concerns that the public sector is advancing at the expense of private businesses, Zhou Dewen, director of the Zhejiang Private Investment Enterprise Association, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
