Xi’s private thoughts

Xi Jinping may finally be stepping in to support the private sector.

On Friday, Xi wrapped up his trip to Jiangxi with a sit-down with the provincial Party leadership.

One comment from the readout got us all excited:

• “Xi stressed that…[the province must] open market access for private companies in an orderly manner, push forward the implementation of policies to promote fair competition, build a new type of relationship between government and business that is “close” and “clean,” and promote the healthy development of the private economy.”

Translation: Make sure the private sector is happy and flourishing.

Why this is important: Xi Jinping did not mention the private economy in his meetings with provincial leaders during his recent trips to Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Jiangsu.

• Xi comments in Jiangxi thus indicate that Xi is now actively pitching in to support Premier Li Qiang’s private sector push.

Get smart: A big reason that private sector confidence remains low is because many private companies don’t believe that Xi Jinping really wants the private sector to succeed.

• If Xi starts to vocally support the private sector, he could reverse that narrative.
• That would do wonders for getting the economy back on track.