Wei Jianguo: High-quality development Needs High-quality Entrepreneurs

A number of brave entrepreneurs have made great success through hard work since China started its reform and opening up many years ago, especially in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, we should realize that they received a lot of policy support from the government in the context of planned economy and an underdeveloped market. They are known as the first generation of entrepreneurs.

These brave entrepreneurs, however, lack a basic understanding of science and technology, culture, innovation and market economy in particular. At that time, there was s severe shortage of commodities and production materials, which is why they could still be so successful, just like a famous Chinese saying “the times produce their heroes."

The 19th National Congress of the Communist Party pointed out that China has transformed itself from a society suffered from severe material shortage to one with abundant resources. China's economy has been shifted from a period of rapid growth to a period of high-quality development. How should the entrepreneurs change themselves accordingly? What is momentum for the future growth? How to achieve innovation and development while taking social responsibility? All these questions need to be answered by Chinese entrepreneurs.

The new era calls for outstanding entrepreneurship, and high-quality development requires high-quality entrepreneurs. As early as November 9, 2014, Chairman Xi Jinping put forward the entrepreneurial spirit for the first time: “Entrepreneurs are an important part of economic activities. We should promote great entrepreneurial spirit, allow outstanding entrepreneurs to act as a role model, and create more good entrepreneurs. On September 25, 2017, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the “opinion on creating a healthy environment for entrepreneurs, promoting outstanding entrepreneurial spirit and allow them to play a better role”, which defines entrepreneurial spirit of the new era as follows, patriotic, law-abiding, hard-working, innovative, quality-oriented, responsible and serve the Society.

Creating a large number of high-quality entrepreneurs and promoting the entrepreneurial spirit are not only vital for coping with the current high-quality economic development, but also for resolving the major social conflicts in our country. More importantly, they are closely related to the completion of China’s tasks in the new era and the realization of the two hundred-year goals.

However, not all Chinese entrepreneurs are aware of the urgency of this issue. At present, there are mainly three types of entrepreneurs in China. The first type of entrepreneurs conduct their business operation by relying on the policy support they received from the government in the era of planned economy. They completely ignore the changes in today's market and the demand for individual consumption. The second type has an incomplete understanding of the entrepreneurial spirit. They believe that being practical and innovative is good enough and often pay less attention to such principles as abiding the law, being quality-oriented and responsible. The third type of entrepreneurs do not have their own insights on the growing high-tech industries such as the Internet, big data and cloud computing. Some of them are so satisfied with the status quo that are not willing to take a step forward in improving themselves and changing their mind, which is a worrying situation.

We must wake up this kind of entrepreneurs, urge them to keep up with the changing world. Today's new era offers a great opportunity for China to move forward. It is also a great time for Chinese entrepreneurs to pursue excellence and embrace challenges. Thus, they should abandon their outdated ideas and take the initiative to make a difference.

Let us make joint efforts to promote entrepreneurship and cultivate high-quality entrepreneurs in the new era.