Helping private sector top policy priority this year, Guangdong political body says
- Pushing forward ‘Greater Bay Area’ scheme also highlighted, along with addressing wealth gap between urban and rural parts of the province
Guangdong officials have been given a list of priorities for the year – boosting the private economy, pushing forward the “Greater Bay Area” and revitalising its underdeveloped countryside – as China grapples with an economic slowdown amid a trade war with the US.
Wang Rong, chairman of the province’s political advisory body, told an annual meeting in Guangzhou on Saturday there was broad consensus among citizens that the private sector should not be allowed to weaken, but must be supported so that it can expand.
He said members of the Guangdong committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) had proposed a series of measures aimed at restoring confidence in the private sector and improving the real economy and the business environment, after entrepreneurs across the province were consulted.
Wang’s comments underscore the concerns of many private business operators in the manufacturing heartland, and throughout China, despite repeated assurances from President Xi Jinping that the Communist Party would treat them fairly and protect their interests.
Zhang Guangjun, a Guangdong CPPCC member and local manufacturer, said he had issued a call for help. “I proposed that government departments at all levels [and] the banks help private businesses to overcome their difficulties … in accordance with the environmental and work safety inspection campaigns,” Zhang said.