China’s Xi urges private companies to ‘be rich and loving’

The Chinese leader said private companies should share the fruits of their growth more fairly with employees.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that private companies should be “wealthy and loving” by taking responsibility together with state-owned companies to achieve prosperity for all.

Private Chinese and foreign companies are waiting for Beijing to elaborate details on how it plans to pursue “common prosperity”, Xi’s signature initiative to narrow China’s wealth gap, and how it expects private companies to contribute.

During a closed-door meeting with government advisers representing the business community at the annual session of parliament, Xi urged private companies and entrepreneurs to be “patriotic” and actively participate in charitable projects, state radio reported Monday.

Xi also said private companies should share the fruits of their growth more fairly with employees, in what he called a “community of shared interests”.

“Be rich and responsible, be rich and benefit others, be rich and loving,” state radio quoted Xi as saying.

He also said China will always treat private companies and entrepreneurs as “family” and, according to state radio, pledged to remove institutional obstacles that prevent private companies from competing fairly.

Beijing has pledged to support the private sector reeling from a regulatory crackdown in the real estate, technology and private education sectors and recovering from state-imposed COVID restrictions that were lifted in December.

Xi blamed the West for the difficulties facing China’s economy.

“Under the leadership of the United States, the West has implemented a comprehensive containment to suppress China, posing unprecedented challenges to China’s development,” state radio quoted Xi as saying.