一步一个脚印

Briefing

A Chinese finance expert is giving an impromptu speech at an international conference about the state of private enterprises in China.

Listen to Speech

Interpreting Speech #3 – Private Enterprises (Mandarin-into-English)

Transcript and reference translation

我觉得改革开放的三十年实际上是包容性发展的三十年，对中国来说包容性的发展意味着各种所有制经济共同发展，民营经济也发展了起来。三十年来民营经济成为市场经济重要组成部分，民营经济已经成为就业的主渠道，75%以上的就业人口在民营经济，新增就业人口的85%以上都是民营经济。
I think that the past 30 years of China’s reform and opening up to the world has been a period of “inclusive development”. To China, this means the “common development” of the economy and diverse forms of ownership. Private enterprises have also thrived. In the past 30 years they have become an important part of the market economy, as well as an avenue for employment. Over 75% workers are employed in private enterprises, and over 85% of new jobs are generated by private enterprises.

所以假如没有中国的民营经济，中国的就业问题解决不了，民营企业所创造的财富，在全国的经济总量当中占65%以上，税收大概占50%左右，在经济层面民营经济已经做出了很大的贡献。­­
So if there were no private enterprises in China, the employment problem could not be solved. The wealth that private enterprises create comprises over 65% of China’s economic aggregate. Tax revenue takes up roughly 50%. Economically speaking, private enterprises have made a large contribution.

更主要的是民营经济发展改变了人们的观念。过去人们靠国家来养活，发工资，吃大锅饭，这种日子已经结束了，现在民营企业靠自己的本事， 不仅自己发工资，也替国家发工资，这是很大的贡献。
The main thing is that the development of private enterprises has changed people’s thinking. In the past, people relied on the state to support themselves and give them a wage, and they ate communally. These days are long gone. Nowadays private enterprises are left to their own devices. Not only do they allocate their own salaries but they also replace the wages that used to be given out by the government. This is a significant contribution.

现在民营经济发展碰到瓶颈，第一，市场准入受到一些限制，尽管我们政府说要放开对民间资本的限制，一视同仁，平等竞争，同等保护，实际上这并没有得到很好的落实，市场准入碰到很大的困难。
A bottleneck has formed in the development of private enterprises. First, the market has had some limitations imposed upon it. Although our government says that it wants to free the limits on private capital – that it wants to treat everyone equally, and promote equitable competition and equal protection, in actual fact this has not been implemented very well. So the market has encountered some difficulties.

第二，融资困难，现在民营企业，中小民营企业融资非常困难。为了应对国际金融危机的冲击，政府出手四万亿经济刺激的计划，一揽子计划起到很大的作用，但是这个积极作用逐步消退，负面作用慢慢体现出来了。负面作用就是政府主导，各级政府办企业，投资主要靠政府，靠国企，而民间资本，民营企业受到挤压，这是个不争的事实。
Second, financing is difficult. Financing for private enterprises and small and medium enterprises is very difficult. In response to the global financial crisis, the government has handed out a four trillion economic stimulus package. This all-inclusive plan has played a significant role, but its positive impact has waned, and its downsides have gradually come into view. These downsides involve the management of the government. Every level of government manages enterprises, and investments mainly rely on the government – that is, state enterprises. This puts pressure on private capital and private enterprises. And this is a fact which cannot be denied.

现在民间资本得到贷款非常困难，虽然银行说，中小企业贷款占了银行信贷的60%左右，但没有落实到民营资本，因为银行所说的中小企业其实是指大企业，真正的小企业，微型企业得不到贷款，融资非常困难，只靠高利贷。
Nowadays securing loans for private capital is extremely difficult. Although banks say that loans for small and medium enterprises constitute around 60% of their credit, this has not been the case for private capital because the small and medium enterprises that the banks are referring to are in fact large enterprises. Real small and micro enterprises cannot secure loans. So financing is difficult and they have to turn to loan sharks.

第三个困难就是税收负担太重，税和费负担太重，现在民营企业碰到原材料涨价，劳动力涨价的问题，同时税费负担又重，所以日子很难过，必须要减轻他们的负担。我是主张化税为薪，对一些传统产业，劳动密集型的企业，解决了大量就业人口的企业，应该减轻税收，能免则免，让他们好好经营下去，雇佣更多的员工，或给员工增加工资。
The third difficulty is that taxation is too heavy – there are too many taxes and expenses. Nowadays private enterprises are faced with the increasing price of raw materials and labour. Meanwhile, taxes and expenses are high and the people fall upon hard times. We must ease their burdens. I advocate turning taxation into salaries. We should tackle the high levels of unemployment in traditional and labour-intensive industries. We should alleviate taxes and exempt them wherever possible, and make sure enterprises continue operating smoothly. We should also employ more workers, or raise employees’ salaries.

第四个困难是权益保障，民营企业的权益，应该受国家法律保护，保护私有财产。中国《物权法》出台后，法律层面得到了保障，但是实际生活当中，民营企业权益经常受到来自权力部门的侵犯，而大部分来自于政府权力部门的干涉。所以，民营企业，在这种情况下敢怒而不敢言，甚至不敢怒不敢言，挫伤了积极性，这个是很值得我们警惕的问题。
The fourth difficulty is securing the rights and interests of private enterprises. They should receive legal protection from the state to protect their private property. After the launch of China’s “Real Right Law”, legal protection was established but in real-life the rights and interests of private enterprises are often infringed upon by the corridors of power. And in many cases this is in the form of governmental interference. So many private enterprises are up in arms but dare not speak, or they may not even show their anger. This dampens their enthusiasm. And this is an issue we need to be wary of.

这几个方面的问题直接影响了民间投资的积极性。就民营企业自身来说，要解决的是创新的问题。民营企业最大的优势是产权明晰，自己的一亩三分地，自己干，动力比较强劲，但问题就在于产权封闭，因为不善于和人合作，总想靠自己慢慢积累，靠银行借贷，逐步发展，这个时代已经过去了。民营企业必须要通过资本市场来运作，通过兼并重组，自身整合，才能做大做强。
These different kinds of problems have a direct impact on the enthusiasm of private investment. As for private enterprises themselves, they need to resolve their innovation issues. The biggest advantage of private enterprises is the clarity of their property rights. You get allocated what is called “the third piece of an acre”. You can use it, and you’re highly motivated to do so. However the problem is that property rights are limited because people are not used to cooperating with each other. They have always preferred to rely on themselves to slowly accumulate savings and rely on the banks to lend them money and develop slowly. This is a thing of the past. Private enterprises must operate in the capital market. And to be strong contenders they need to merge, and restructure, and make themselves whole.

Material adapted from an interview with Yu Junbao (保育钧), guest researcher for the Counselor’s Office of the State Council and Vice-Chairperson of the All-China Federation of Industry & Commerce (国务院参事室特邀研究员、全国工商联原副主席). Link includes full original video and transcript. English translation is my own. — Carl