The word "private" was mentioned twice in the whole report and they are underlined in the excerpt below.
Henry
Jiang Zemin's report delivered at the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on September 12, 1997,
"(1) Readjust and improve the ownership structure. It is China's basic economic system for the primary stage of socialism to keep public ownership in a dominant position and to have diverse forms of ownership develop side by side. The establishment of such a system is determined by the socialist nature and the reality of China in the primary stage of socialism: First, being a socialist country, China must keep public ownership as the foundation of its socialist economic system; second, being in the primary stage of socialism, China needs to develop diverse forms of ownership with public ownership in the dominant position; and third, any form of ownership that meets the criterion of the "three favorables" can and should be utilized to serve socialism.
Since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, our Party has earnestly reviewed its past experience and lessons with regard to the ownership issue, formulated the principle of keeping public ownership in a dominant position and having diverse economic sectors develop side by side, gradually removing the fetters of the irrational ownership structure on the productive forces and bringing about a situation featuring multiple forms in the realization of public ownership with all sectors of the economy developing side by side. It remains a major task in the economic restructuring to continue readjusting and improving the ownership structure so as to further release and develop the productive forces.
We should have an all-round understanding of the meaning of the public sector of the economy. The public sector includes not only the state- and collectively-owned sectors, but also the state- and collectively-owned elements in the sector of mixed ownership. The dominant position of public ownership should manifest itself mainly as follows: Public assets dominate in the total assets in society; the state-owned sector controls the life-blood of the national economy and plays a leading role in economic development. This is the case for the country as a whole. There may be differences in some localities and industries. Dominance of the public assets should feature in quantitative terms, but more so in terms of improved quality. The leading role of the state-owned sector should manifest itself mainly in its control capability. We should make a strategic readjustment of the layout of the state-owned sector of the economy. The state-owned sector must be in a dominant position in major industries and key areas that concern the life-blood of the national economy. But in other areas, efforts should be made to reorganize assets and readjust the structure so as to strengthen the focal points and improve the quality of the state assets as a whole. On the premise that we keep public ownership in the dominant position, that the state controls the life-blood of the national economy and that the state-owned sector has stronger control capability and is more competitive, even if the state-owned sector accounts for a smaller proportion of the economy, this will not affect the socialist nature of our country.
The collectively-owned sector is an important component of the public sector of the economy. The collective economy is able to reflect the principle of common prosperity, extensively absorb funds that are scattered in society, ease employment pressure and help increase public accumulation and state tax revenue. We should support, encourage and help diverse forms of collective economy in the urban and rural areas in their development. This will be of great significance to the public sector of the economy in playing its dominant role.
Public ownership can and should take multiple forms in its realization. All governance methods and organizational forms that reflect the laws relating to socialized production may be utilized boldly. We should strive to seek various forms for realizing public ownership that can greatly promote the growth of the productive forces. The joint stock system is a form of capital organization of modern enterprises, which is favorable to separating ownership from management and raising the efficiency of the operation of enterprises and capital. It can be used both under capitalism and under socialism. We cannot say in general terms that the joint stock system is public or private, for the key lies in who holds the controlling share. If the state or a collective holds the controlling share, it obviously shows the characteristics of public ownership, which is favorable to expanding the area of control by public capital and enhancing the dominant role of public ownership. Now there have appeared a large number of diverse forms of joint stock cooperative ventures in the urban and rural areas. They are new things arising in the process of reform. We should support them, give them guidance, constantly sum up their experience and improve them. What should be specially advocated and encouraged is the kind of collective economy that features, in the main, the association of laborers in labor and their association in capital.
The non-public sector is an important component part of our socialist market economy. We should continue to encourage and guide the non-public sector comprising self-employed and private businesses to facilitate its sound development. This is of great importance to satisfying the diverse needs of the people, creating new jobs and promoting the development of the national economy.
It is necessary to improve the legal system concerning property and protect the legitimate rights and interests of and fair competition among all types of enterprises and at the same time exercise supervision over them according to law."
Doug Henwood wrote:
> {Henry, anyone, comments?]
>
> FINANCIAL TIMES - February 4 1999
>
> CHINA: Beijing fillip for private sector
> By James Kynge in Beijing