Private economic sectors play a crucial role in promoting development of China's social productive force, said a member of the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing on Sunday.

Ren Wenyan, vice-chairwoman of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), made the remarks in her report to the second plenum of the ongoing CPPCC session on be half of ACFIC.

Non-public economic sectors contributed to more than one third of China's GDP and more than 70 percent in some economic spheres in 2002 and, by the year-end, the private enterprises' registered capital increased by 690 billion yuan year-on-year, 260 billion yuan more than the actual amount of foreign capital utilized in the year, according to Ren. Taxes paid by the non-public firms made up 43 percent and private investment over half the national total in 2002.

A survey conducted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in 66 major Chinese cities in 2002 shows that 65 percent of the laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises found jobs in private enterprises. Since 2000, exports of private firms have been on the rise by an average of 150 percent annually.

Non-public enterprises have become a major contributor to economic growth and tax revenues of many localities, playing a unique role in building the socialist market economy and improving economic environment, said the CPPCC member.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) has enshrined private entrepreneurs as builders of socialism and a growing number of them shifted their business mission from "making money" and "helping the family to live a better life" to "dedicating business operations to the service of their country," said Ren.

Entrepreneurs for the non-public sectors have contributed approximately 50 billion yuan (about US$6 billion) to the Glorious Cause, a non-government poverty-alleviating organization, and helped five million needy people to get out of poverty.

(Xinhua News Agency March 8, 2004)