Anta boss promotes 'Jinjiang Experience'

A worker operates on a footwear production line of Chinese sportswear brand Anta in Jinjiang, Fujian province, in February 2021. CHINA DAILY

The "Jinjiang Experience" should be promoted nationwide to bolster high-quality development of county-level economies as part of the nation's efforts to build a unified domestic market, said Ding Shizhong, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Ding, who is chairman of Chinese sportswear brand Anta, also urged support for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, which, he said, have created over 80 percent of urban jobs and contributed significantly to economic and social stability.

The Jinjiang Experience refers to the transformation of Jinjiang, which used to be a poor county with a large population and little land in Fujian province, into an economic powerhouse with a developed private economy.

In 2002, when President Xi Jinping was governor of Fujian, he wrote two articles summarizing and promoting the Jinjiang Experience. On many occasions since, he has encouraged local enterprises to be market-oriented and do a good job in market innovation.

Ding said the Jinjiang Experience involves continuous innovation of management models for enterprise development and the way the government creates a favorable business environment for enterprises.

"I believe the most important lesson from the Jinjiang Experience for private enterprises is sticking to the real economy," Ding said. "That's why Jinjiang continues to thrive even in today's challenging global economic development situation."

He emphasized the significance of county-level economies as a fundamental part of the national economy, saying that their development plays a pivotal role in promoting coordinated regional development and building a new development pattern.

Anta, which was founded in 1991, is a beneficiary of the Jinjiang Experience. As part of his proposals to the recently concluded second session of the CPPCC National Committee, Ding suggested the establishment of a Jinjiang Experience Learning Base, focusing on the development of the private economy at the county level and led by the National Development and Reform Commission's Private Economy Development Bureau.

He recommended the initiation of national research projects on the Jinjiang Experience for county-level economic development. He also proposed the establishment of Jinjiang as the permanent venue for the National Summit on High-Quality Development of the Private Economy, which would serve as a platform for policy announcements, theoretical and practical exchanges.

The Jinjiang Experience should serve as a crucial guiding principle for promoting high-quality development of the private economy in the new era, Ding said.