Zheng Yongnian: What are Chinese private enterprises worrying about?

Zheng Yongnian column

No matter from which perspective, the importance of Chinese private enterprises today is self -evident, that is, the five, six, seventh, eight, and nine of China, that is, the private economy contributes more than 50%of China's taxes and more than 60%of domestic production.The total value, more than 70%of technological innovation results, more than 80%of urban labor employment, and the number of enterprises of more than 90%.Among the world's top 500 companies, Chinese private enterprises increased from one in 2010 to 28 in 2018.

But at the same time, the foundation seems to be extremely fragile in terms of such an important private economy.As soon as the wind blows grass, private enterprises become extremely disturbed.Today, the world's geopolitical drama has changed, and companies in various countries are facing huge uncertainty.More and more government has shifted to the internal priority development policy, hoping to achieve internal sustainable development in grasping the uncertain international environment.Therefore, governments of various countries are also working hard to improve the internal economic environment.

In principle, the same is true of China.Chinese leaders have always emphasized that China's biggest contribution to the world is the sustainable development within the world.Because of the above -mentioned importance of private enterprises, China is also urgent to change the business environment of private enterprises.However, this is not the case.In recent years, changes in the internal environment have made increasing pressure on private enterprises, which has constituted increasing uncertainty.

As far as the internal environment is concerned, what kind of challenges do private enterprises face?How do the government act as a challenge for private enterprises?In what aspects of the government can continue to review their shortcomings to improve the business environment of private enterprises?

Private enterprises have legal protection

Just as in any other country, the business environment is a complex system.However, in a special environment in China, at least when discussing this issue, at least think about the following aspects, including ideological tendencies, the environment of rule of law, state -owned and private enterprises conflict, government reform and their policiesPreferences.

Since the reform and opening up, China's private economy has developed rapidly, and the ruling party has also advanced with the times. It has given the legitimacy of the private economy from all levels of the constitution and ideology.Whether it is the property rights of private enterprises, the property of private entrepreneurs, or personal identity, there are various legal systems and system protection.In various countries, the guarantee based on the constitution -based system is the most basic and effective guarantee.Why is there a constitutional guarantee, Chinese private entrepreneurs still face multiple uncertainty?

A mainstream explanation is that China's rule of law is low.The low degree of rule of law is manifested in various aspects, including: 1. Laws in many fields are still missing and cannot be rely on; 2. Law lacks details, laws are like policies, and they are not available.Executive, or the executor is not professional; 4. When encountering various resistance, it is difficult for some laws to implement it, and even the execution cannot be performed.

This explanation is of course wrong.The problem is that the construction of the rule of law is a long -term career and cannot be achieved overnight.Even in the West, the establishment of the modern rule of law system has experienced a long history, and not to mention the legal traditions of ancient Greece and Rome.Chinese culture was originally lacking in the legal culture of the West. Although it has been working hard to build the rule of law since the reform and opening up, the construction of a comprehensive rule of law system will be long.The rule of law does not only mean the existence of a complete legal system, but more importantly, all citizens (including governors and people) have the identity of law and their spirit.

For the impact of the private economy, the law is indeed important, but the more important is ideological wind.In some people, the ideological competition of law is not too deep -rooted, and the ideology of the left of the private economy is often returned, leading to panic in the private economy.In fact, the socialist market economy established by the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 1992 has given the legitimacy of the ideological ideology of the private economy.

In terms of experience, China has also formed a veritable hybrid economy.However, once the left ideology returns, private enterprises are restless.For example, did China even have a need for private enterprises some time ago?The discussion did not give the correct guidance in a timely manner, leading to the fear of private enterprises.In the end, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China ... several times came out to appease private enterprises, and things were calm.

Why is the private economy so sensitive to ideological orientation?This is not difficult to understand.The ideological form that China's before reform and opening up not only does not have the legitimacy of the private economy, but also in the long run, the private economy is the object of being eliminated.Before the reform and opening up, many private entrepreneurs remembered for the policy and practice of the private economy for a long time.In some people's consciousness, private enterprises are just a temporary means for the government to develop the economy, not an eternal normal.

Obviously, they did not understand the legitimacy of the private economy from the constitution and law, but from the perspective of old ideas in the past.However, this does also explain an important issue, that is, there is still inconsistency between the constitution, law, and ideology.

Public and private partnerships are facing challenges

Furthermore, the hybrid economy has many problems at the actual operation level, especially the unknown of property rights and boundaries.Structurally, China's hybrid economies are composed of top -level state -owned capital, underlying private capital, and intermediate layers of interaction between national and large private enterprises.There are three types of enterprises in modern China, namely government office, official supervision and business offices, and commercial offices, which are converted into today's terms, namely state -owned capital enterprises, state -owned and private hybrid capital companies, and private capital enterprises.Among them, the two -layer property rights of state -owned capital and private capital are clear.

Although these two layers have their own problems, the problem is internal because of its clear property rights.The middle layer is the easiest problem.In modern times, it is said that such enterprises are officially supervised by officials, and their policy ideas are clear, but the problems have emerged endlessly in the actual operation process, and in the end.

Today, such enterprises are reforming the public -private partnership (PPP).But from experience, this reform is not easy, because there are many unavoidable contradictions.Public and private partnerships are common in the West and are relatively easy to implement. This is because the concept of Western property rights is clear and the rule of law is guaranteed. It is not difficult to implement.In China, this relationship is easy to deform.

Although relevant departments have also emphasized the neutrality of the government in the process of dealing with the relationship between state -owned enterprises and private enterprises, it can also specify the equal nature of the two in law, but it is difficult to achieve at the actual execution level.Obviously, the political status of state -owned enterprises and private enterprises is different, and all aspects of support (from policy to finance) can be comparable to any private enterprises, so it is difficult to be equal in front of law.

The reform of public and private partnerships made some entrepreneurs think of the lessons of public -private partnerships in the 1950s, because public -private partnerships soon moved to state -owned, and private enterprises soon became history.Although today's public and private partnership is by no means public -private affairs, in public and private partnerships, there are indeed competition for control over state -owned capital and private capital.This competition is inevitable.State -owned capital managers have a strong motivation to fight for control, because once investing mistakes or for other reasons, they must take responsibility.

Since the anti -corruption movement, the state has increasingly emphasized the responsibility of public officials, and it is a lifelong responsibility.In this case, the managers of state -owned capital are trying to avoid the risk of investing in private enterprises. The most effective way is to obtain control in the public and private partnership.However, once state -owned capital obtains control, it is bound to run counter to the original intention of public and private partnerships.As in other countries, the advantage of public and private partnership lies in the efficiency and efficiency of private capital; if state -owned capital dominates, the company's operations have become the logic of state -owned enterprises.

It also involves the method of reform of state -owned enterprises.There are three layers of capital structures in China, but there is no clear regulations for the distribution of capital industrial fields.If the competition between state -owned capital and private capital is inevitable, think about industrial issues.If in the same industry, how can private enterprises compete with state -owned enterprises?As mentioned above, even if the two are equal at the legal level, But it is difficult to equal in the actual operation process.

In terms of experience, the same is true.In the field of dominant or monopoly, private enterprises have not developed.Most of China's Internet industry belongs to private enterprises, because this field is originally new, and state -owned capital is absent, giving private capital sufficient space.There are also many space for private enterprises. It was the product of the private reform of Zhu Rongji in the 1990s.Although there are some short -term problems (mainly unemployed or laid -off at the time), if there are no private reforms, it is impossible to create a three -layer capital structure that people see today.

There is another space problem.It is not difficult to find that private enterprises cannot develop in places where state -owned enterprises are dominant; but in places with a balanced distribution of three -layer capital, various types of enterprises have developed well.The former is Northeast, because state -owned capital and enterprises occupy an absolute dominant position, private capital and enterprises lack space, not only the private economy cannot be developed, but state -owned enterprises are also struggling.The latter, such as Guangdong and Zhejiang, has a reasonable distribution of three -layer capital, cooperation between private capital and state -owned capital, and economic development is far better than other places.

The government's overcover brings pressure

In addition to structural issues, some methods of government and enterprises often lead to concerns about private enterprises.This refers not only to those predators, such as unreasonable charges and taxes, but also include some government's excessive concern and support for enterprises.Some time ago, Hangzhou decided to send government officials to some key enterprises to provide instant service for private enterprises.No one may doubt the original intention of this approach to effectively help the development of enterprises.

However, this over -care and support has also been questioned by many people.People don't know why the government is in the enterprise?What will happen to the end?If the government wants to serve the enterprise, there should be a more common approach, that is, the government should provide services regardless of the size of the enterprise?If the government provides special services because of the importance of large enterprises, this approach itself can be questioned.

Obviously, the development of the private economy and the reform of state -owned enterprises are inseparable. It can even be said that the reform of state -owned enterprises determines the fate of the private economy.This is why people have been concerned about the issue of the country's retirement over the years.Although the reform of state -owned enterprises has been discussed for many years, there has never been a systematic idea.The overall principles of state -owned enterprise reform may still return to the ancient Confucian wisdom, that is, to avoid fighting with the people. Once the state decides to fight with the people, there is no way to resist the people.

From this perspective, the relationship between state -owned enterprises and private enterprises will be clear. Some areas are state -owned capital and some areas are private capital.This division of labor reform is more effective than the infiltration of state -owned enterprises into various private enterprises.This does not mean that the country cannot affect the private economy.In fact, the state can share the development results of private enterprises through taxation and services, instead of directly entering the economic activities of private enterprises to share.At the same time, the areas of state -owned capital to dominate must also set up a competitive mechanism, and there are multiple state -owned enterprises in each field to let them compete with each other.

The financial sector must also have structural reforms that meet the three -layer capital structure.From the status quo, China needs many state -owned or private small and medium -sized banks to serve small and medium -sized local or private enterprises.This is because large state -owned banks will not have enough motivation to serve small and medium -sized enterprises. Faced with administrative or political requirements, they may do some small and medium -sized enterprises, but essentially their interests will be on large state -owned enterprises.Considering the importance of small and medium -sized enterprises, financial institutions that serve small and medium -sized enterprises must be served.Small and medium -sized enterprises are far ahead of other types of companies in terms of employment, technology and management innovation, and most of the future large companies will be produced in them.

From the perspective of experience, if the government wants to reform large enterprises, whether it is state -owned or private, it will encounter huge difficulties.The reason is simple, because they are too large and cannot fall, they tend to be a monopoly position.Cultivating large enterprises from SMEs is equivalent to cultivating new interests. Only by making new interests impact the old interests can the country maintain an open enterprise system. Otherwise, once the monopoly is formed, the corporate system will be closed, and progress will becomeIt's difficult.

Anyway, from a historical point of view, the three -layer capital structure has been formed and it is difficult to change.This system has its own unique advantages, and different levels of capital have their own responsibilities, functions and operation methods.Therefore, what reforms must be made at all levels of capital (enterprise) to avoid this structural problem.If the reform is proper, this hybrid economy system can use a huge advantage than a simple state -owned capital system or a private capital system.This is theoretically possible in terms of experience.

The author is a professor at the East Asia Research Institute of Singapore's National University

The article only represents personal point of view