Private entrepreneurs flourish in a healthy climate of achievement

THE number of private enterprises and individual entrepreneurs has grown tremendously in the past year in the wake of patriarch Deng Xiaoping's visit to southern China in February, 1992.

The difference between private enterprises and individual entrepreneurs is that of size - a private enterprise consisting of eight or more people, while those run by less than eight people are categorised as individual entrepreneurs.

At present, there are 408 private enterprises in the city, compared with 237 in 1992. There are more than 70,000 individual entrepreneurs, against 61,000 in 1992.

''Comrade Deng's visit to the south started to boost the number of private enterprises and individual entrepreneurs in the city,'' said Wu He, deputy department head of the Individual Enterprises Economic Administration Department at Kunming's Industry and Commerce Administration Bureau.

The relaxation of the entry restrictions for individual entrepreneurs after the visit also helped, he added.

''For instance, retirees used not to be allowed to be private entrepreneurs, but they can be now,'' he said.

Although the private sector still does not contribute much to the city's economy, which is dominated by state enterprises, it is growing in importance.