SHENZHEN will make sustained efforts to bolster the private economy and help private enterprises prosper by creating a better business environment and thoroughly implementing various tax-reduction policies this year, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

Since last year, Shenzhen has introduced a series of preferential policies and measures to reduce enterprise costs and optimize enterprise services, bringing substantial and tangible benefits to local private businesses.

The cost-reduction measures for industrial and commercial power, which took effect late last year, have enabled Shenzhen enterprises to receive relevant electricity subsidies for the first time.

For instance, China Star Optoelectronics Technology, a Shenzhen-based display producer, has planned to invest the saved money in R&D to further improve the company’s competitiveness, according to the Daily.

Apart from electricity cost reductions, local private enterprises also enjoyed tax-reduction incentives. The latest data from Shenzhen’s tax authority showed that in 2018, tax reduction of private enterprises amounted to 170.57 billion yuan (US$25.18 billion), accounting for more than 70 percent of the total.

Automobile manufacturer BYD alone has received tax rebates of value-added withholding tax totaling 890 million yuan.

After 40 years of development, private enterprises have already become the pillar of Shenzhen’s steady economic growth and urban development.

According to the latest statistics from the city’s industrial and informatization bureau, as of the third quarter of 2018, the number of private enterprises in Shenzhen has exceeded 1.85 million, accounting for 96.28 percent of the total number of enterprises in the city.

The number of private enterprises in Shenzhen has been growing rapidly, with the density of entrepreneurship ranking first in the country.

Meanwhile, the number of Shenzhen enterprises listed on the SME and GEM boards has ranked first among large and medium-sized cities in the country for 12 consecutive years. More than 90 percent of them are private enterprises.

Also of note, Shenzhen private enterprises remain a strong presence in the global market, said the Daily report.

Statistics from Shenzhen Customs showed that the import and export of local private enterprises increased by 12.9 percent last year, accounting for 53.8 percent of the city’s total foreign trade value and up 2.8 percentage points.

Last year, 12 Shenzhen private enterprises made it into the top 100 national foreign trade companies, three more than in 2017.

(Zhang Yu)