A Research Report on the Non—State-Owned Economy in Our Country

Abstract

The most important and most profound transformation that has taken place in our national economy since the inception of reform and the opening of our country to the outside world is the rapid growth in the relative weight of the non—state-owned economic sector [in the national economy as a whole], and, along with it, the formation of a general pattern [of economic growth] in which diverse economic elements exist side by side. From the [perspective of] the overall growth of the economy and practice of reform, the high-speed development of the non—state-owned economy has had a powerful impact on the economic life of our country. This influence is discernible in at least the following areas: First, it has profoundly transformed the microeconomic base of our economy, injecting enormous vitality into our economic growth, summoning up a tremendous enthusiasm for developing the economy on the part of all aspects of our society, and bringing about a "golden era" of economic development in the history of New China. Second, it has promoted the formation and development of new types of property ownership and new forms of property rights, dispelling what had been a severe constraint on economic growth, [namely], the unitary state-ownership system. It has provided more options and opportunities for the citizens of this country—as individuals, as organizations engaged in all sorts of economies run by the people, and as enterprises—to invest [in the national economy] and to grow and develop, and has thus pushed up the income levels in our country and the overall stage of development [of our economy] to a new plateau. Third, it has promoted the formation of market competition and of the market mechanism, greatly strengthened people's awareness of the market economy, and pushed forth the establishment of the new market economic system. Fourth, in their continued growth and development, non—state-owned economic elements have blended harmoniously with state-owned economies, and, in so doing, they have made a powerful impact on promoting the reform processes in the state-owned economic sector. In the period ahead, along with the further development of our country's economy, the deepening of reform, and the further expansion of our country's opening up to the outside world, our non—state-owned economy is bound to continue to sustain its rapid and dramatic development, and, as a major component of our national economy as a whole, the non—state-owned economic sector will play an increasingly greater role and have a growing impact on our economic life. In the face of the current situation and trend of development, it is a matter of extreme urgency and necessity today for us to strengthen our empirical study of the non—state-owned economy, as well as to reinforce our theoretical research and policy studies with regard to this critical sector of the economy.