Watchdog pledges to help boost private firms

China's top economic regulator has pledged efforts to tackle issues faced by private Chinese enterprises and create a better development environment for the private sector.

The National Development and Reform Commission held a symposium in Beijing with major private enterprises on Monday with the commission listening to the operational status of private enterprises and the challenges they face, as the government aims to propose relevant policy recommendations.

Zheng Shanjie, head of the NDRC, hosted a meeting with a group of private business executives from Sany Group, Aux Group, Shanghai YTO Express (Logistics) Co Ltd, Bosideng Group and Nongfu Spring, according to a meeting memo.

Five businesspeople attending the meeting analyzed the opportunities and challenges to corporate development brought about by changes in the domestic and international environments.

They also discussed some practical difficulties encountered in production and operation and shared opinions and suggestions for further optimizing the legal and institutional environment for private enterprises.

Gao Dekang, chairman of Bosideng, a leading manufacturer of down jackets in China, attended the meeting and said the company has achieved steady growth and digitalized transformation, and has striven to respond to external uncertainties.

"The textile sector is embracing new growth opportunities with the recovery of domestic demand. The sector also faces some challenges such as insufficient innovation of brand values, relatively weak demand in overseas markets and some difficulties in industrial digital transformation. Still, the long-term positive development trend of China's clothing market remains unchanged," Gao said.

During latest financial year, Bosideng's sales revenue and net profit both hit five-year highs, and the gross margin of the brand has steadily improved for six straight years, according to its latest earnings report released last week.

During the period, Bosideng's sales reached 16.77 billion yuan ($2.3 billion), and it achieved a five-year compound annual growth rate of 13.6 percent. Meanwhile, its net profit reached 2.14 billion yuan, with the five-year CAGR reaching 28.3 percent, a record high, the company said.

Meanwhile, Yu Weijiao, president and founder of YTO Express, said during the meeting that the company has been committed to building an integrated domestic and international logistics supply chain.

Yu suggested enhancing guidance for domestic express delivery companies in terms of top-level design and policy support. He hoped for further support regarding aspects such as companies' global expansion plans, building of air logistics hubs and development of freight transportation, which would thus further promote the high-quality development of the express delivery sector in China.

Last year, YTO delivered nearly 18 billion units of packages, and its sales exceeded 210 billion yuan. So far, YTO has expanded its business to more than 150 countries and regions and set up more than 50 branch offices globally. From its international business, the company achieved nearly 10 billion yuan of revenue last year.

Zheng of the NDRC said the government would study practical and effective policy measures to help private enterprises solve difficulties, thus creating a favorable development environment for them.

Meanwhile this week, the local government of Sichuan province released a guideline about promoting the business environment for private enterprises, and the local government of Zhejiang province issued a guideline about facilitating high-quality development of the platform economy.