At the just held symposium for private entrepreneurs, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that the basic principles and policies of the Party and the state for the development of the private economy have been incorporated into the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, and will be consistently adhered to and implemented without change or alteration. In the new era and new journey, the development prospects of the private economy are broad and promising, and it is timely for private enterprises and entrepreneurs to show their talents. Supporting the development of private economy is a consistent policy of the Party Central Committee. The private economy is a new force to promote Chinese path to modernization, an important foundation for high-quality development, and an important force to promote China to build itself into a socialist modernization power in an all-round way and achieve the second century goal. In the new era and new journey, we must adhere to the "two unwavering" principles, optimize the development environment for private enterprises, assist them in seeking "quality" from the "new", and achieve a virtuous mutual promotion between high-quality development of the private economy and the cultivation of new quality productivity. The development and growth of the private economy in the liberation and development of productive forces can be traced back to history. The Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China opened the door for the development of the non-public economy. It is precisely because of the reform and opening up that the liberation and development of productive forces have led to the growth of private enterprises, resulting in a large number of private enterprises and the growth of private entrepreneurs. Without reform and opening up, without liberating and developing productive forces, there would be no private economy, let alone the development and growth of the private economy. From a necessary and beneficial supplement to the socialist economy, to an important component, the private economy has grown step by step from a spark to a prairie fire, growing through debate, expanding through development, and ultimately reaching a vast horizon. From the initial exploration to today's prosperity and growth, private economy has become an important force in China's economic development, and plays an indispensable role in the process of promoting Chinese path to modernization. It can be said that the development of the private economy has driven and achieved the miracle of the Chinese economy. Without the development of private economy, there would be no Chinese economic miracle and vitality today. Nowadays, there are over 180 million business entities in China, with varying scales and types, distributed across thousands of industries. They are the micro foundation of the market economy and a vivid representation of the Chinese economy. In the first three quarters of 2024, there were 6.191 million newly established private enterprises in China, of which 40% were "four new" economy private enterprises, and their business areas were constantly expanding. The historical contribution of the private economy is indelible, and the status and role of the private economy are beyond doubt. Therefore, 'China's private economy can only grow and cannot weaken. It cannot' leave ', but must move towards a broader stage.'. In recent years, the Party and the state have attached great importance to the development of the private economy. Especially at the beginning of the new year in 2025, focusing on the development of the private economy, we will continue to implement encrypted policies and increase efforts from the central to local levels, continuously striking a "combination punch", and vigorously promoting the promulgation of the "Private Economy Development Promotion Law" as soon as possible. Developing new quality productive forces presents both challenges and opportunities for the private economy. Since July last year, General Secretary Xi Jinping has proposed in different places to accelerate the formation and development of new quality productive forces. This is a scientific guide for coping with changes, and also the hope for the development of the private economy to move towards a broader horizon. In the new era and new journey, China's social productivity will continue to rise, people's living standards will steadily improve, and reform and opening up will be further deepened comprehensively. Especially with the rapid development of education and technology, there is a large and high-quality talent team and labor resources, a complete industrial system and infrastructure system, and a huge market potential of over 1.4 billion people. This will bring many new opportunities and provide greater development space for the development of the private economy. All of these have laid a solid foundation for the high-quality development of the private economy. With the steady development of new quality productive forces and the continuous deepening of reform and opening up, China's economy is in a critical period of transforming development mode, optimizing economic structure, and transforming growth drivers, evolving towards a more advanced form, more complex division of labor, and more reasonable structure. At present, many industries are experiencing rapid technological iteration and accelerated innovation pace. The era of primitive and daring development of the private economy, where success could be achieved by daring to charge forward, has passed. It can even be said that without innovation, private enterprises cannot establish themselves, succeed, and have no market prospects. New quality productivity not only includes the emergence of new industries and new driving forces through disruptive technologies and cutting-edge emerging technologies, but also includes the development of future industries and strategic emerging industries. In the current new economy, new formats, and new tracks, private enterprises are showing off their skills. Technology is in a wave, industry is a cluster. Today, no enterprise can take the whole industry chain and form the whole industry chain through division of labor. If it cannot play the leading role, it can play a good supporting role to complement each other and achieve their own achievements. The key is that private enterprises should be brave enough to compete and be at the forefront. At every opportunity, there are always companies that take off, but of course, there are also companies that fall. To develop new quality productive forces, it is necessary to strengthen independent innovation capabilities, move towards the mid to high end of the industrial chain, make breakthroughs in more new products, new technologies, new materials, and seize opportunities in the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. When technology advances, industries rejuvenate, and new quality productivity emerges, the vitality of enterprises will be strong and the market prospects will be good. 'Downward' is hedged with 'upward', 'transformation' is built with 'practical' steps. Private enterprises must seek opportunities for innovation and space for transformation. Innovation comes at a cost, transformation requires courage, courage. The more difficult the path, the stronger the competitiveness that comes out. No matter how great the challenges and difficulties are, with the strongest backing of the Party and the state, good policy guidance and institutional support, and the entrepreneurial spirit of innovation and practical work in the new era, the Chinese economy will surely be able to sail through the waves and stride forward with high-quality development in the new era. Climbing high and seeking change from the new, walking the path of breakthrough for private enterprises, the anchor of stability and the source of vitality for the Chinese economy lies among millions of enterprises. This is the logic for the private economy to keep moving forward, and also the confidence for the stable and far-reaching development of the Chinese economy. Every step taken by private enterprises is a projection of China's economic ascent and overcoming obstacles. Accelerating the formation and development of new quality productive forces, the path for private enterprises to break through can only be to climb "high" and seek "change" from "new". Continuously climbing 'high'. High quality development is a profound change that affects the overall situation, and we can see the vigorous vitality and enormous potential that high-quality development brings to private enterprises. Faced with pressure and challenges, many private enterprises remain steadfast and constantly strive to climb higher. After more than 40 years of rapid growth, many favorable factors that once supported the development of the private economy have reversed in the new situation. The extensive development model no longer meets the requirements of current economic and social development and the long-term development of the private economy itself. The private economy must consciously take the path of high-quality development, constantly shape its own competitive advantages, seize development opportunities in the fierce domestic and international competition, and contribute to the realization of China's economic development by seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing before breaking through. Be brave to embrace the 'new'. Only by seeking motivation from innovation can private enterprises establish themselves and survive. Pursuing innovation is a natural consciousness of private enterprises and an inevitable choice for their development and growth in fierce market competition. In just a few decades, private enterprises in our country have embarked on a path of innovative development from following and leading, from imitation and grafting to original creation. New technologies, new products, new formats, new production models... The pressure and challenges constantly stimulate Chinese enterprises' desire for innovation and inspire private enterprises to seek breakthroughs. At present, the overall scientific research level and innovation ability of Chinese private enterprises have been significantly improved. They have kept pace with the international advanced level in communication, chips, artificial intelligence, new energy vehicles, lithium batteries, photovoltaic, Internet and other fields, and even many private enterprises have stood at the forefront of global innovation competition. Dare to seek 'change'. For private enterprises, the only constant in this world is change. Private enterprises should accurately recognize changes, respond scientifically, and actively seek change. They should be good at nurturing new opportunities in crises and opening up new opportunities in changing situations, and enhance their confidence and ability to proactively recognize and adapt to changes. The era of AI is approaching, which is a rapidly changing wave of technological change. From today's perspective, the changes that the AI era of the next 20 years can bring will exceed everyone's imagination, as AI will be an even greater era. AI will greatly enhance human ability to utilize and conquer nature, empower new quality productivity, give rise to new forms of civilization, stimulate new technologies and industrial changes, and create more new industries, new economies, new formats, and new tracks. It can be certain that AI will change everything, but that doesn't mean AI can decide everything. The development of AI is not about replacing humans, but about complementing human capabilities and driving human society towards more efficient and updated productivity. When AI and new quality productivity blend together, it will certainly blossom into a more brilliant spark and open up a Xintiandi for enterprises. This is a war without gunpowder, and also a new journey full of infinite possibilities. Private enterprises should actively embrace the AI era and create new brilliance for the private economy. (Xinhua News Agency) Author: Zhou Wen (Distinguished Professor at Fudan University and Vice Dean of the Marxist Research Institute)