China's private enterprises have been shouldering more and more civic responsibilities during recent years, in addition to having become an important part of the market economy.

This message was conveyed yesterday at a conference to mark the 50th anniversary of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and the 2003 China Private Enterprise Culture Forum.

Acting as the nation's chamber of commerce, the federation has 1.7 million members around the country.

"Private businesses have made significant contributions to the development of society, such as helping solve the country's poverty and employment problems,'' Huang Mengfu, chairman of the federation and vice-chairman of the China People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) said yesterday.

Huang's views were echoed by Beijing vice-mayor Sun Anmin.

"The vast majority of private entrepreneurs co-operated closely with the government in the fight against SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in the first half year in Beijing,'' he said.

"Private enterprises were the first to make donations to the medical workers at the front in the fight against the epidemic and the first to step up efforts to discourage residents from panic buying,'' Sun said.

CPPCC Chairman Jia Qinglin yesterday urged the members of all levels of the federation to continue to devote themselves to the building of a well-off society in an all-round way.

"Private entrepreneurs are no doubt an important force in China's economic development and social advancement,'' Jia told yesterday's conference.

The federation has chosen "developing private business in harmony with social progress'' as the theme for cultural development in private enterprises this year.

Sources with the federation also urged various levels of government to further improve policies toward private enterprises to help them develop smoothly.

Private enterprises produce more than one-third of China's gross domestic product (GDP), said sources.

There are a total of 104 million people engaged in private enterprises, including foreign companies in China as of last year, according to sources with the federation.

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