Jiang Zemin Urges Party to Infiltrate China's Private Economy

AFP, 16 May 2000

BEIJING, May 16, 2000 -- (Agence France Presse) Chinese President Jiang Zemin has called on the Communist Party to establish a presence in the private sector and to exert its influence on the fastest growing sector of China's economy, state press reported Tuesday.

Establishing the work of party building in non-state enterprises is a new area of work, Jiang was quoted by the People's Daily as saying.

Setting up and solidifying economic order and leading the healthy development of the non-state economy is a party imperative in the initial stages of socialism, he said.

Jiang called on party cadres and party committees at all levels to organize ideological understandings from the top down on the nature of building up the party in the non-state economy.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the eastern city of Shanghai, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, Jiang reiterated the leading position of the CCP in China's economic work, but said improvement in the party leadership was needed to win the loyalty of the entire nation.

The party must further strengthen its combat capabilities, work harder to resolve outstanding problems within the party and improve its leadership skills, Jiang said.

China's burdensome loss making state-run industries have had extreme difficulties adjusting to 20 years of market-oriented reforms and have seen their share of China's GDP drop to 40 percent as profit-oriented and efficient private and township enterprises blossomed.

China's non state-sector includes thousands of township and collective enterprises, private enterprises and solely owned foreign enterprises.

The CCP already maintains a presence in many foreign-funded joint ventures between foreign companies and state-owned enterprises.

During his talks, Jiang also called for better party leadership in state-run enterprises and grass roots rural groups.

He echoed a recent decision by the party which recognized the private economy as crucial to creating jobs and making the overall economy efficient.

Party organizations should be formed in private companies to guarantee the healthy development of the sector, he said.