The NPC is considering a proposal from the Industrial & Commercial Association (ICA) to give private property the same legal protection as state property.
This is the third time the ICA, which represents private business, has presented the proposal to the National People's Congress (NPC). The previous two times were 1997 and 2000.
'If all goes smoothly, the fastest that this amendment [to Article 12 of the constitution] could be implemented would be 2004,' said ICA vice-chairman Bao Yujun.
'It first must be proposed by the central committee of the Communist Party and then approved by the standing committee of the NPC and 20 per cent of its members. The final stage is approval by at least two thirds of the full membership of the NPC,' Mr Bao told the Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald.
According to ICA figures, the private sector employs 54 million people and accounts for 43 per cent of the economy, with the number of private companies having increased more than 19-fold since 1990.
In parts of China, it already accounts for more than half the economy. According to official media, private companies in Zhejiang province last year accounted for 70 per cent of tax revenue, while the number of private firms in Shanghai at the end of last year reached 176,000, employing 1.98 million people and outnumbering the city's state and collective companies combined.