On May 9, the city-wide Conference on Private Sector Economic Development was held. Hu Jiuming, Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, attended the meeting and delivered a speech, emphasizing the need to thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important discourses on the development of the private sector, as well as his key remarks at the symposium on private enterprises. He also urged the faithful execution of the deployment requirements from the province-wide conference on private sector development, calling for intensified efforts and stronger measures to foster the healthy and high-quality growth of the city's private economy, and striving to create a new chapter in the development of the private sector.

Wu Qinghua, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee and Mayor, presided over the meeting. Deng Daowei, Director of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress, and Zhang Hanping, Chairman of the Municipal Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, attended the meeting.

The meeting noted that, in recent years, under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee and the provincial party committee, the municipal party committee has consistently placed the development of the private economy as a top priority. A series of targeted policies and initiatives have been implemented, creating distinctive highlights and effective pathways to support and serve the growth of the private sector. As a result, our city’s private economy has continued to thrive, becoming the primary engine driving economic growth, the backbone of vibrant markets, a key pillar for opening up to the outside world, a leading hub for technological innovation, and the main channel for improving people's livelihoods. Meanwhile, the significant roles and status of private enterprises and entrepreneurs have been fully demonstrated. Looking ahead, we must remain clearly aware of both the evolving macroeconomic landscape—brimming with new opportunities—and the solid foundation built through sustained development. We should deeply recognize that our city’s private economy enjoys vast potential and promising prospects. Therefore, we must proactively seize the historical momentum to drive high-quality growth in the private sector, doing everything possible to help businesses strengthen, optimize, and scale up successfully.

The meeting emphasized the need to highlight five key priorities and vigorously implement "seven major initiatives" to fully promote the healthy and high-quality development of the private economy. We must introduce practical and effective measures to alleviate businesses' difficulties, ensuring that pressing issues—such as financing, land use, and labor challenges—that enterprises have strongly voiced are addressed promptly and effectively. Additionally, we must firmly safeguard corporate rights and interests by strictly enforcing laws that protect businesses' legitimate rights, while also refining law enforcement practices involving enterprises to enhance the overall quality of legal services provided to the private sector. Moreover, we must take concrete actions to optimize the business environment, encouraging private enterprises to cluster around strategic industrial chains and fostering an innovative ecosystem tailored to their needs. This includes supporting private firms in upgrading their technologies and operations to drive continuous innovation and growth. Finally, we must ensure robust policy implementation by delivering on commitments with tangible resources, adhering to the highest standards in executing existing policies while introducing new, targeted measures that carry significant value. By making these policies easily accessible and widely shared, we aim to empower businesses to compete fairly and thrive in a dynamic marketplace. To achieve these goals, we will focus intently on seven key initiatives: the tiered cultivation program for high-quality private enterprises, the expansion of investment opportunities for private capital, the three-year campaign to reduce costs and ease burdens for private firms, the crackdown on overdue payments owed to private businesses, the initiative to enhance supply-demand matching and improve service quality, the "Thousand Enterprises, Hundred Exhibitions to Global Markets" strategy aimed at helping private companies tap into international markets, and the specialized action plan to standardize law enforcement practices affecting businesses. Through these concerted efforts, we strive to ensure that private enterprises not only feel the tangible benefits of government support but also gain greater confidence and momentum for sustained success.

The meeting emphasized that when private enterprises thrive, Xiaogang thrives—and when private enterprises flourish, Xiaogang prospers. All private entrepreneurs are urged to actively enhance their initiative and intrinsic motivation, vigorously promote the entrepreneurial spirit, strengthen their strategic focus, expand and fortify their core businesses, cultivate robust internal driving forces, drive innovation through science and technology, improve governance capabilities and refine corporate management practices, build sustained growth momentum by upholding integrity and operating legally, showcase their unique enterprise appeal by actively contributing to society, and boldly embrace challenges while relentlessly pursuing new opportunities. Together, they should strive to elevate their companies' core competitiveness, paving the way for a brighter future as Xiaogang writes a new chapter in Chinese-style modernization.

At the meeting, the Municipal Development and Reform Commission interpreted the "Hubei Province Action Plan for Accelerating High-Quality Development of the Private Economy (2025–2027)" and put forward specific implementation suggestions, while also releasing a list of investment projects open to private capital. Representatives from the Municipal Federation of Industry and Commerce, the Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, the Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology, and the Xiaogang Branch of the People's Bank of China each delivered speeches focusing on better supporting the growth of private enterprises. Additionally, representatives from six companies—Chuneng New Energy, Hangju Technology, Hubei Shouheng, Wuzhou Special Paper, Xindu Chemical, and Zhongyi Technology—shared their insights during the discussion session.

City leaders He Weidong, Shuai Xun, Qiu Xianchun, Tong Wei, Li Huaiping, Zhu Jiang, Chen Hongjie, and Wu Peng, along with leading officials from the party and government of each county (city, district) and the three directly-administered "districts," representatives from relevant municipal departments, and 50 representatives of private-sector entrepreneurs attended the meeting.