China will reclaim its place at the top of global order, thanks to its new breed of entrepreneurs

Many people believe China's economy is dominated by its state-owned enterprises, which are typically large, supported by the government and enjoy preferential market access. Some call it "state capitalism". While this perception is not entirely incorrect, it is being challenged by the rapidly developing private business sector.

Over the past two decades and more, entrepreneurship in China has grown at an exponential rate. As a result, it is bringing forth disruptive changes not only in China but increasingly on a global scale.

In 2000, total revenues earned by Chinese state-owned industrial companies and those in the non-state-owned sector were roughly the same, at about 4 trillion yuan (HK$5 trillion) each. By 2013, while total revenues at state-owned companies had risen just over sixfold, revenues in the non-state sector had risen by more than 18 times. Profits in the same period showed an even more remarkable difference, with state-owned companies showing a sevenfold increase but profits at non-state-owned ones increasing nearly 23 times.

China's entrepreneurs will be the ones driving the nation forward in the coming decades. Moreover, the entrepreneurial spirit runs deeper than just in business. It manifests itself in the government, and in the desires of ordinary people, most of whom share the dream of seeing their country reclaim its place as one of the world's great sources of scientific ideas and technological advances.

China has the potential to emerge as a key force in determining the direction the world will take through the 21st century. The reason is the role its entrepreneurs have assumed in the nation's development. Through this process, they will change the world - not because they set out to do so, but because they can't avoid it.

Given the interconnectedness of our world and China's enormous scale, they cannot realise their potential without changing China, and they cannot change China without changing the world. China's entrepreneurship, shaped by the country's history and culture, both in the short and long term, will inevitably intermix with global entrepreneurship.

As this happens, China's entrepreneurs will no longer be able to ignore the most pressing global problems, above all, climate change and the environmental stress generated as more people become wealthy and begin consuming more of everything. They will have to be involved in solving these problems. Because of this, thanks to its entrepreneurs, China will be a leading source of the thinking and practices needed to overcome the challenges facing the world in the coming decades.