China’s draft legislation to promote the private economy needs urgent refinements, including penalties for law-enforcement agencies overstepping their authority and infringing on the rights of businesses, a former State Council official has said.
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Former deputy director of the industry, commerce and trade research department Chen Yongjie pointed out that entrepreneurs felt that clauses in the draft law were “insufficient”, as the sector faces “increasing external challenges” amid Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The outline of the legislation, released on October 10, aims to revive business confidence, which has been hit by policy uncertainties and ambiguous behaviour by the authorities.
In the first four days of the month-long public consultation period about the legislation, the justice ministry received more than 1,000 proposals.
In a recent speech to the China Macroeconomy Forum, Chen, who is also deputy director of Beijing Dacheng Enterprise Research Institute, said a recent survey by his institute had found that more than half of the 56 entrepreneurs questioned felt the draft had not met expectations.
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The sample size was “limited” but still had a “certain representativeness”, he added.
“The law enforcement responsibilities of relevant government departments should be clarified, and corresponding punitive clauses should be set to enhance the deterrent effect of the law,” Chen said in the speech, which was published on Friday.