At the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress and the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) that just concluded, Xu Guanju, a known private firm owner with assets totaling 800 million yuan (US$96.7 million), was elected vice-chairman of the CPPCC Zhejiang Provincial Committee.

Xu, chairman of the Zhejiang Chuanhua Group, is also president of the Zhejiang Federation of Industry and Commerce.

Before Xu, Yin Mingshan, chairman of Lifan Industrial Group, was elected to the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC in the southwestern metropolis. Yin was the first private sector business person to attain such an eminent post in China since the late 1970s when the country launched its policy of reform and opening up to the outside world.

Statistics show more than 120 private firm owners were elected to the local municipal people's congress and the municipal committee of the CPPCC this year in the city of Chongqing.

In the newly elected Beijing municipal people's congress and CPPCC Beijing Municipal Committee, the new stratum of private firm owners is catching attention. The non-governmental business owners numbered 15 in the 12th people's congress of Beijing. In the 10th CPPCC Beijing Municipal Committee, 47 members were from the private sector, 17 more than last year.

A record number of non-state sector personages were elected to the Party congresses and CPPCC committees.

More people from the new stratum are involved in local legislation and political affairs, signifying practical and symbolic trends.

"This is a strong signal, epitomizing the strong desire of the new stratum for social respectability and political status is being recognized by the government and embodying the progress of political democratization in China," said Wu.

Cai Dingjian, an executive director with the Research Institute of the People's Congress and Parliaments at Peking University, expressed the belief that it was normal for private business owners to receive political appointments since their economic strength had grown dramatically.

By the end of 2001, China had a total of 24.33 million registered self-employed people and 2,028,500 private companies with capital amounting to 2.1648 trillion yuan (US$261.8 billion).

Xu and Yin's appointments have been regarded as a trend of political importance since the 16th CPC National Congress ended in mid-November last year.

A small group of private enterprise owners had entered the National People's Congress (NPC) before the 16th Party Congress. Experts predicted that in the National People's Congress and CPPCC to be held this March in Beijing, more private enterprise owners will ascend onto the political stage.

Under the guidelines of the 16th CPC National Congress, self-employed people, private firm owners and business people alike have all made their contributions to the development of society through honest, diligent work and operations, making themselves builders of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The 16th Party Congress also decided that all legal income from labor or non-labor should be brought under full protection.

This has dispelled the worries of private firm owners who became better off ahead of others and also set the political status of private firm owners in the country, said Wu Zhicheng, a prestigious sociologist.

As the country's top legislature, the NPC is the highest institution through which the Chinese people exercise their state power.

The CPPCC is China's top advisory body, which comprises delegates from the CPC, various democratic parties, non-governmental organizations, ethnic groups and other social strata. The people's political consultative conferences at all levels are dedicated to political consultation, democratic supervision, participation in and discussion of major political issues.

Xu and Yin are also presidents of the provincial federation of industry and commerce, which is cited as a governmental assistant in dealing with issues of the private sector. These posts were also held by business-owners before the founding of new China in 1949, but they usually no longer possessed massive assets when took up their posts.

The newly-emerging non-state economic personages showed keen and ardent aspiration in participating in political affairs. Wang Jianhua, a newly-elected deputy to Beijing Municipal People's Congress with more than 200 million yuan (US$24.18 million) in fixed assets, said: "I'll conscientiously heed and reflect proposals and voices of the non-state economic stratum so that they would be incorporated into the will of the state."

An increasing number of NPC deputies from non-state economic sector and CPPCC committee members showed an amazing, high sense of responsibility with their open minds. Their proposals and motions often far outstripped the fields and spheres of business they were involved and covered almost all aspects of social life.

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2003)