China has opened all areas where private capital was once banned, a
demonstration of its efforts to perform its commitments to the WTO
and implement the policy of stimulating domestic demand.
"All areas opened to foreign capital will be opened to domestic
private capital," said Wang Chunzheng, vice minister of the State
Development Planning Commission, at a press conference Saturday
assidelines of the ongoing First
Session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC), China's
top legislature.
The landmark event in this regard was the acquisition by the
Wenzhou-based private Junyao Group of the Three Gorges airport in
central China's Hubei Province and 18 percent of the shares of the
Wuhan Airlines, an affiliate to the state-owned Eastern Airlines
Group, an area that private capital used to be strictly banned.
It
was learned that the country used to shut the doors to private
capital in nearly 30 industries, especially infrastructure, new
services and large manufacturing. But now the country has allowed
private capital into all areas other than those that hold the
lifeline of the economy. They include banking, securities,
telecommunications, tourism, education, medical services, auto
industry, civilian satellite, large equipment manufacturing and
large scaled integrated circuits.
In
his Government Work Report to the current NPC session, Chinese
Premier Zhu Rongji said that the government should "expand the
areas open to private capital and create an environment for fair
competition among all types of market players".
In
fact, the call to open areas where the market access of
non-governmental capital was once banned was made at the 16th
National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November last
year. The Congress also called for measures to realize fair
competition in financing, taxation, land use and foreign trade.
Accordingly, the government has promised to scrap all rules and
regulations designed to ban non-governmental capital and introduce
equal treatment to enterprises in all sectors of the economy with
regard to market access, land use, taxation, listing on the stock
market and import and export. In a word, all areas opened to
foreign capital will be opened to Chinese non-governmental
capital.
The opening of the restricted areas to private capital is the
natural outcome of the rising political status of personages in the
private sector. Since last winter and this spring, a large number
of entrepreneurs and other personages have ascended the political
arena. Their appearance in the top advisory body and legislature
this year has caught even greater attention.
Analysts here believe that the opening of "restricted sectors"
means great encouragement to the non-public sector.
However, some private entrepreneurs are still cautious with their
investment.
"Despite the good policies, it is still inadvisable to rush
headlong into these areas," said Xia Shilin, president of the
private Shenghua Holdings Group and a deputy to the 10th NPC. "It
is necessary to study these areas carefully and do what we can
do."
(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2003)