Private entrepreneurs are not as rich as people think, a recent
survey shows.
However, this highly educated group of people want to play a
bigger role in the country's social and political life.
They support the leadership of the Party, because they believe
they are the direct beneficiaries of its opening-up policy and
stable social conditions, according to the survey.
The survey was conducted by the All-China Federation of Industry
and Commerce and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce
in the first half of last year.
It was the seventh national survey on private enterprises and
received almost 4,000 responses.
Compared with the results of the previous survey in 2004, the
latest one found the number of private enterprises was increasing
rapidly following the issue of 36 measures by the State Council in
2005 to support development of the private economy.
In 18 months, the number of private enterprises increased by 1
million.
The number of self-employed individuals also reversed the
dipping trend since 1999, reaching 25 million in 2006.
Nearly 90 percent of the private entrepreneurs are aged between
33 and 57.
The number of former government officials, managers and
technicians is increasing among the group, accounting for
two-thirds of the total. In 2004, these three categories of people
accounted for only one-third of the total.
"It is a fundamental change and signals social progress. China
lacks such highly educated entrepreneurs," said Bao Yujun,
president of the All-China Society of Private Economic Research, at
a news conference in Beijing on Friday to detail results of the
survey.
(Xinhua News Agency February 10, 2007)