On October 10th, the Ministry of Justice and the National Development and Reform Commission released the draft of the "Law of the People's Republic of China on the Promotion of the Private Economy (Draft for Comments)" on their portal website, soliciting public opinions. The formulation of the Private Economy Promotion Law is an important deployment made at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. As the first fundamental law in China specifically related to the development of the private economy, the draft adheres to the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, implements the policies of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, deeply implements the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the development of the private economy, adheres to the leadership of the Party, puts the people at the center, adheres to the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, adheres to the basic socialist economic system, upholds the "two unwaveringly" principle, clarifies the overall requirements for promoting the development of the private economy, and makes provisions in terms of fair competition, investment and financing, scientific and technological innovation, standardized operation, service guarantee, rights and interests protection, and legal responsibility. It better plays the role of the rule of law in consolidating the foundation, stabilizing expectations, and benefiting the long-term, stabilizes market expectations, and boosts development confidence, Create a legal environment and social atmosphere conducive to the common development of various forms of ownership, including the private economy. The draft consists of 9 chapters and 77 articles, insisting on transforming the policies and effective practices of the Party Central Committee and the State Council in developing the private economy since the reform and opening up, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, into a legal system. It sets down the requirements for equal treatment and protection of the private economy, encourages and supports its development and growth, and emphasizes strengthening regulatory guidance to promote the healthy development of the private economy and the healthy growth of private entrepreneurs. The draft adheres to a problem oriented approach and is based on practical situations. It not only makes rigid provisions on the key systems and requirements involved in solving problems, but also leaves room for practical exploration. The draft mainly stipulates the following contents: firstly, clarify the overall requirements. Emphasizing the principle of promoting the development of private economy, ensuring the correct political direction of private economy development, and clarifying that promoting sustained, healthy, and high-quality development of private economy is a major policy that the country has long adhered to. The country encourages, supports, and guides the development of private economy in accordance with the law. The second is to ensure fair competition. Emphasize that all types of economic organizations, including private economic organizations, outside the negative list of market access should enter equally in accordance with the law, implement a fair competition review system, regulate bidding, government procurement and other behaviors, and promote fair participation of private economic organizations in market competition and equal use of production factors. The third is to improve the investment and financing environment. Support private economic organizations to participate in major national strategies and projects, establish and improve market-oriented mechanisms for sharing financing risks, optimize the investment and financing environment for the private economy, and reduce institutional transaction costs. The fourth is to support technological innovation. Support private economic organizations to actively play a role in developing new quality productive forces, encourage private economic organizations to participate in national scientific and technological research and development, support capable private economic organizations to take the lead in undertaking major technological research and development tasks, ensure that private economic organizations participate in standard setting and the development and utilization of public data resources in accordance with the law, and strengthen the protection of their intellectual property rights. Fifth, pay attention to standardized guidance. Regulations have been made to give full play to the political leadership role of party organizations in private economic organizations, protect the legitimate rights and interests of workers, improve the governance structure and management system of private economic organizations, perfect the system and mechanism for preventing and controlling corruption from the source, and fulfill social responsibilities. Sixth, optimize service guarantee. Establish a smooth and effective communication mechanism between government and enterprises, implement the system of soliciting opinions on laws, regulations, policies and measures closely related to the production and operation activities of business entities, strengthen administrative law enforcement supervision, prevent multiple law enforcement, and improve the system of punishment for dishonesty and credit repair. Seventh, strengthen the protection of rights and interests. The regulation involves restricting personal freedom and imposing measures such as sealing, impounding, freezing, etc., and requires compliance with legal authority, conditions, and procedures. It is prohibited to illegally intervene in economic disputes through administrative or criminal means. Standardize law enforcement behavior in different regions. Focusing on strengthening the guarantee of account payment, enhancing budget management, refining targeted payment regulations, and establishing procedures for negotiating, mediating, and disposing of account arrears. Eighth, strengthen legal responsibility. Corresponding legal responsibilities have been established for different illegal entities and situations, strengthening rigid constraints. In February this year, the Ministry of Justice and the National Development and Reform Commission agreed to invite the Law Working Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to jointly lead the establishment of a special legislative drafting class composed of 17 central and state organs, to strengthen overall coordination and actively promote the work. The work team thoroughly implements the guidelines and policies of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, earnestly studies and comprehends the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the development of the private economy, sorts out problems, organizes expert research, conducts research in local areas, holds multiple symposiums to listen to the opinions and suggestions of representatives of private enterprises, experts and scholars, conducts in-depth discussions with relevant units of the central and state organs, and changes their drafts. Afterwards, they sent them to 53 relevant units of the central and state organs and 31 provincial (autonomous region, municipality directly under the central government) people's governments for comments. The work team studied, absorbed, and adopted nearly a thousand opinions proposed by various parties one by one, organized expert discussions, communicated and coordinated with relevant parties repeatedly, and revised them into a draft. After the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the working group benchmarked the spirit of the plenary session and further revised and improved the draft. The public solicitation of opinions on the draft is a concrete manifestation of scientific legislation, democratic legislation, and legislation in accordance with the law. It is another major practice of open door legislation, which can better respond to concerns, consolidate consensus, and play an important role in improving the quality of legislation for promoting the private economy and promoting the sustained, healthy, and high-quality development of the private economy. The public can provide opinions and suggestions by logging into the website column, sending emails, or sending paper letters. The deadline for soliciting public opinions is November 8, 2024.