Four top private entrepreneurs are invited to meet journalists and answer questions on China's reform and opening-up and the development of the private economy on Nov 21. [Photo/scio.gov.cn]

Four top private entrepreneurs were invited to meet journalists and answer questions on China's reform and opening-up and the development of the private economy by the State Council Information Office of China (SCIO) on Nov 21.

The four entrepreneurs, including Zhou Haijiang, board chairman of Hodo Group, a Wuxi-based private company specializing in knitted underwear and garments, are bullish on the future of private businesses with the country's continuing reform and opening-up, and said they will further boost innovation to enhance economic growth.

Over the past 40 years, the private economy has become an indispensable force in driving China's development, being a major contributor to employment creation, technological innovation and tax revenue.

As the birthplace of China's modern industry and commerce, Wuxi is known as "little Shanghai" due to its flourishing economy and especially its private economy.

In the 1980s, Hodo Group, which is one of China's top 500 enterprises, was just a village-level knitting factory on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2001, it was successfully listed.

Zhou Haijiang, board chairman of Hodo Group, a Wuxi-based private company specializing in knitted underwear and garments, discusses his company during the meeting on Nov 21. [Photo/scio.gov.cn]

Zhou Haijiang expressed his gratitude to the country and the reform and opening-up policy, which he says offered a better environment and greater opportunities for developing his business.

Hodo Group has not only employed thousands of workers right there in Jiangyin city, but also provided over 20,000 jobs for locals in the Sihanoukville special economic zone (SEZ), Cambodia.

Under the China-pioneered Belt and Road Initiative, the SEZ was developed in 2007 as the first of its kind and was recognized as a place of economic significance by the local government.

"The latest symposium is a 'watershed', which offers a broader scope for the future development of the private sector," said Zhou Haijiang.

On top of accounting for more than half of the country's fiscal revenue, China's private enterprises are currently responsible for over 60 percent of fixed-asset investment, more than 70 percent of innovation and over 80 percent of urban employment.